THE BEST OF THE WORST

There have been many great champions in the history of the Olympic Games. For example, the American swimmer, Mark Spitz, won seven gold medals in 1972, and the Hungarian fencer, Aladar Gerevich, won gold medals at six different Olympic games. But there have also been some great losers. We look at the best of the worst.

Shizo Kanaguri THE JAPANESE ATHLETE, Shizo Kanagun, ran the marathon in the 1912 Olympics in Stockholm. It was an extremely hot day and KanagurI was finding the race very hard. As he was running along the road, he saw a family who were watching the race. They were having a picnic and he decided to sit down and join them. After finishing the meal, he realized that there was no point in continuing with the race. Eric Moussambani Al THE SYDNEY Olympics in 2000, Eric Moussambani, from Equatorial Guinea, became an international hero. The newspapers called him 'Eric the Eel' when he set a new Olympic record in the 100 metres freestyle. Eric took up swimming only a few months before the games and it was his first time in a 50-metre swimming pool. He completed the two lengths of the pool in 1 minute. 52.72 seconds - a record slow time and twice the time of the other swimmers. But Eric won the race because the two other swimmers were disqualified for false starts. Eddie Edwards THE BRITISH SPORTING superstar Eddie Edwards (or Eddie the Eagle) took part in the skijumping event at the Winter Olympics in Calgary in 1988. Edwards lived hundreds of miles from the nearest mountain and it was difficult to prepare for the games. During his preparations, he broke his jaw, his collarbone and a number of teeth. He was also short-sighted and needed to wear thick glasses, but in the cold mountain air, he could not see through them. He came last. 'He doesn't jump,' said one Olympic official 'He drops like a stone.'

Vocabulary Champion - Win a gold medal Loser - Athlete - Run a marathon Eel - Set a record

Disqualify for false start Jaw - Collarbone - Short-sighted - Ski-jumping He drops like a stone ,