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Olympic athlete reveals why he deliberately finished last in 110m race

Home> News> Sport

Published 11:40 5 Aug 2024 GMT+1

Olympic athlete reveals why he deliberately finished last in 110m race

Freddie Crittenden left viewers shocked with his decision, but it was for good reason

Emily Brown

Emily Brown

You might think the Olympics is a place where athletes give their all to every single event, but Team USA's Freddie Crittenden has proven that doesn't necessarily have to be the case.

Crittenden left viewers stunned on Sunday (August 4) when he appeared to jog down the track of the 110m hurdles race at Paris 2024, causing him to fall way behind his competitors.

The Olympian took his time as he cleared the hurdles and ended up finishing dead last, a full five seconds behind winner Grant Holloway, also from Team USA.

Freddie Crittenden appeared to jog down the track of the 110m hurdles. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
Freddie Crittenden appeared to jog down the track of the 110m hurdles. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)

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Crittenden's was labeled the second-fastest 110m hurdler in the world this year, his decision to 'jog' caused a barrage of questions from viewers.

"What happened there to Freddie Crittenden!?," one Twitter user asked, as another wrote: "What happened to Crittenden omg ? What was that."

As it turns out, however, Crittenden's decision was strategic.

After the race, the athlete said finishing last was an 'intentional choice' because he was suffering a small injury.

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He might have attempted to push through it if it was the final, but Crittenden knew coming in last in Sunday's race didn't mean the end of his time in Paris, because there's a rule he was able to take advantage of.

While the top three finishers in the hurdles go through to the semi-finals of the Olympics, the remaining athletes who cross the line have a second chance to qualify through what is known as the 'repechage round'.

Crittenden finished five seconds behind the winner. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Crittenden finished five seconds behind the winner. (Julian Finney/Getty Images)

Crittenden explained: "It was either get top three or everyone gets through to the repechage. Every athlete has a chance to race in repechage.

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"So I decided to just not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice. Give my body time to recover a little bit from being aggravated. Lean on my medical doctors. Lean on God. And just wait for repechage round.

"Come out [here] and try to kill it at the repechage round."

The repechage round is set to take place on Tuesday (August 6), before the semi-finals take place on Wednesday (August 7).

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After taking it slow on Sunday, Crittenden has high hopes for his performance in the upcoming races.

He explained: "I thought I'd come here, take it easy and thank god there was a repechage round, I had to come here, get through the line, I can look forward to the repechage on Tuesday, get top six and make it to the semi-final on the next day."

Featured Image Credit: Hannah Peters/Getty Images

Topics: Sport, Olympics, US News

Emily Brown
Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.

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