Watching NBC’s coverage of the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver has gotten me thinking along some strange lines. If one were to sit down and examine the history of the Games, who and what were responsible for the biggest blunders in the event’s storied reign atop the global stage?

Don’t get me wrong – Costas, Michaels and crew have done an excellent job on the broadcast end of things. In fact, I don’t think there’s a network better equipped to take on such a massive project.

But I digress. The reason I’m thinking about blunders is… Well, because I’m a blundering sort of person. That, and they’re always fun to read about. So here, without further ado, are a few of the funniest gaffes in Olympic history.

Weigh-In Whoopsee!

After a tough loss during the opening round of the 1936 Olympic boxing competition in Berlin, lightweight Thomas Hamilton-Brown needed to soothe his troubled soul. So, what would you do if you were a disappointed Olympic boxer? If you answered, “Eating binge”, then you’d be correct. The day after his loss, it was discovered that there had been a scoring error, and that the dejected Hamilton-Brown had actually won the fight. Unfortunately, his gastric gaffe had added another five pounds to his physique. Unable to make the proper weight, he lost shot at gold.

Raqueteering

Sigrid Fick and Gunnar Setterwall were enjoying a great run during the 1912 Stockholm summer games. That was, until their match for the gold. With a shot at the top prize in mixed-doubles on the line, Fick accidentally smashed her partner full-on in the face with her racquet. The official Olympic report, in the manner of journalistic understatement common to the time, put it as follows: “This little accident put Setterwall off his game, for his play fell off tremendously.”

Restless in Rome

I can imagine the excitement of the people of Suriname, waiting to watch Wym Essajas, their country’s first Olympic athlete, compete in Rome’s 1960 summer games. Essajas, a runner, was unfortunately given the wrong starting time prior to his 800-meter competition. He slept through the entire thing.

There are many more interesting moments in the history of the Olympics. Stay tuned for part two!

- Taylor Maxwell

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Tags | 2010 Winter Olympics, Olympic blunders, Olympics, Setterwall, Sigrid Fick