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Olympic spirit celebrated in weblog
To the Olympic victors go the spoils, the gold medals and the lucrative shoe contracts, but no one remembers who came in last.
To the Olympic victors go the spoils, the gold medals and the lucrative shoe contracts, but no one remembers who came in last.
Until now.
A Canadian writer, web designer, snake breeder and self confessed "professional smartass" has dedicated himself to immortalising the gallant Athens loser in cyberspace, in a celebration of true Olympic spirit.
"I worry that we're adopting a patronizing attitude towards last-place finishers, especially if they're from little countries like Sco Tomi or Mongolia," said Jonathan Crowe, 32.
The world is guilty of "patting them on the head for participating and not taking them seriously, even though most of us couldn't even come close to doing what they just did," he told AFP.
Crowe, from Shawville, Quebec, who glorifies in the online name of McWetboy, trawls through Olympic results for two hours a day pinpointing last-place finishers in each event.
His losers hall of fame is then posted on his web log or blog on the Internet (www.mcwetboy.net).
Those who do not finish their event are disqualified or exposed as drugs cheats are excluded: only true last place finishers need apply.
From Monday's competition, he lauded female walker Fumilay Fonseca of Sao Tomi and Principe and Greek triple-jumper Athanasia Perra of Greece who had the shortest best leap in the qualifying rounds of 13.19 metres.
