Career
Moussambani gained entry to the Olympics without meeting the minimum qualification requirements via a wildcard draw designed to encourage developing countries without expensive training facilities to participate. While Pieter van den Hoogenband set a world record of 47.84 seconds to win the gold medal, Moussambani splashed his way to the finish to the cheers of the crowd in more than twice that time (1:52.72). "The last 15 metres were very difficult", Moussambani said. However, because the other two swimmers in his heat made false starts, and were thus disqualified, he won the heat unopposed. Before coming to the Olympics, Moussambani had never seen a 50 m (160 ft) long Olympic-size swimming pool. He took up swimming only eight months before the Olympics and had practiced in a lake in Malabo.
His performance generated spectator and media interest in the only other Equatoguinean swimmer at the Sydney Olympics, Paula Barila Bolopa, who competed in the women's 50 meters freestyle event. Barila struggled to finish the race with a time of 1:03.97, setting a record for the slowest time in Olympic history for that event, and also achieved minor celebrity status.
Moussambani was denied entry into the 2004 Olympic Games due to a visa bungle, despite the vast improvement in his swimming over the previous four years, with his personal best down to under 57 seconds. He did not take part in the 2008 Summer Olympics, but he hopes to qualify for the 2016 games.
In March 2012 he was appointed coach of the national swimming squad of Equatorial Guinea.
Read more about this topic: Eric Moussambani
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