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The Olympic athlete took a bizarre approach to reaching the semi-finals
An Olympic hurdler left viewers confused as he jogged across the finish line five seconds behind the others, but it was actually a clever tactic.
American hurdler Freddie Crittenden took an interesting approach on Sunday morning whilst competing in the first-round heat of the men's 110-metre hurdles.
The Olympics' athletics events sees athletes win gold medals as others go home empty handed, despite being within seconds of each other crossing the finish line - meaning the competition is tough.
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But Crittenden and his team worked out a way he could jog the entire race, and still have the chance of competing to go through to the semi-finals.
Team USA's Freddie Crittenden used the rules to his advantage. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
The bizarre strategy baffled viewers who were watching the race, and those who were clued up about his previous times for the same race were left stumped.
At the USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships earlier this year, he crossed the finish line in 12.93 seconds.
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But during this heat, it took him an entire 18.27 seconds.
He revealed later in an interview that he had, in fact, used the race rules to his advantage - as the Paris Games is the first Olympics to have repechage rounds in some track events.
Traditionally, track events started with the heats, with the best finishers from each heat qualifying for the semi-finals.
However, in 2022, World Athletics - the governing body of athletics - introduced repechage rounds in some sporting events, which are essentially a second chance for athletes who didn't qualify for the semi-finals in the heats.
He will compete in the repechage round on Tuesday. (Hannah Peters/Getty Images)
In an interview with NBC, Crittenden admitted that he had jogged the race on purpose, giving his body a chance to recover from an injury.
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He said: "It was an intentional choice. Everyone gets through to the repechage. … 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 the repechage round, come out here and try to kill it in the repechage round."
By saving himself for the repechage race on Tuesday, he is now, theoretically, fired up to compete against the slowest racers who didn't get through in the heats, and has had two extra days to prepare and rest his body.
Now that is a smart move!
(Julian Finney/Getty Images)
Team USA's current medal count - 72
Gold medalists
- Lee Kiefer: Fencing - Women's individual foil
- Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
- Jack Alexj, Chris Guiliano, Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Ryan Held, Matt King: Swimming - Men's 4x100m freestyle
- Simone Biles, Suni Lee, Jordan Chiles, Jade Carey, Hezly Rivera: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's team competition
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 1500m freestyle
- Nick Mead, Justin Best, Michael Grady and Liam Corrigan: Rowing - Men's coxless four
- Jacqueline Dubrovich, Lee Kiefer, Lauren Scruggs, Maia Mei Weintraub - Fencing: Women's foil team
- Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
- Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m breaststroke
- Simone Biles: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
- Vincent Hanco*ck: Shooting - Men's skeet
- Ryan Crouser: Athletics - Men's shot put
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
- Nic Fink, Torri Huske, Ryan Murphy, Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Mixed 4x100m medley relay
- Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 1500m freestyle
- Kristen Faulkner: Cycling - Women's road race
- Scottie Scheffler: Golf - Men's individual stroke play
- Noah Lyles: Athletics - Men's 100m
- Regan Smith, Lilly King, Gretchen Walsh and Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 4x100m medley relay
Silver medalists
- Nic Fink: Swimming - Men's 100m breaststroke
- Lauren Scruggs: Fencing - Women's individual foil
- Gretchen Walsh: Swimming - Women's 100m butterfly
- Haley Batten: Mountain Bike - Women's cross country
- Kate Douglass, Gretchen Walsh. Torri Huske, Simone Manuel, Erika Connolly, Abbey Weitzel: Swimming - Women's 4x100m freestyle
- Sarah Bacon and Kassidy Cook: Diving - Women's springboard 3m synchronised
- Katie Grimes: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
- Jagger Eaton: Skateboarding - Men's street
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
- Bobby Finke: Swimming - Men's 800m freestyle
- Carson Foster, Brooks Curry, Chris Guiliano, Luke Hobson, Drew Kibler, Blake Pieroni, Kieran Smith: Swimming - Men, 4x200m freestyle
- Perris Benegas: Cycling - Women's BMX freestyle
- Torri Huske: Swimming - Women's 100m freestyle
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m butterfly
- Erin Gemell, Katie Ledecky, Paige Madden, Simone Manuel, Anna Peplowski, Alex Shackell, Claire Weinstein: Swimming - Women's 4x200m freestyle
- Karl Cook, Laura Kraut, McLain Ward: Equestrian - Jumping team
- Sagen Maddalena: Shooting - Women, 50m rifle 3 positions
- Regan Smith: Swimming - Women's 200m backstroke
- Austin Krajicek and Rajeev Ram: Tennis - Men's doubles
- Conner Prince: Shooting - Men's skeet
- Joe Kovacs: Athletics - Men's shot put
- Kaylyn Brown, Bryce Deadmon, Shamier Little, Vernon Norwood: Athletics - 4x400m relay mixed
- Sha'Carri Richardson: Athletics - Women's 100m
- Kate Douglass: Swimming - Women's 200m individual medley
- Brady Ellison: Archery: Men's individual
- Hunter Armstrong, Caeleb Dressel, Nic Fink, Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 4x100m medley relay
- Seth Rider, Taylor Spivey, Morgan Pearson and Taylor Knibb: Triathlon - Mixed relay
Bronze medalists
- Carson Foster: Swimming - Men's 400m individual medley
- Katie Ledecky: Swimming - Women's 400m freestyle
- Chloe Dygert: Cycling - Women's individual time trial
- Frederick Richard, Brody Malone, Stephen Nedoroscik, Paul Juda, Asher Hong: Artistic Gymnastics - Men's team competition
- Nick Itkin: Fencing - Men's foil individual
- Emma Weyant: Swimming - Women's 400m individual medley
- Ryan Murphy: Swimming - Men's 100m backstroke
- Luke Hobson: Swimming - Men's 200m freestyle
- Nyjah Huston: Skateboarding - Men's street
- Ilona Maher, Kayla Canett, Lauren Doyle, Alev Kelter, Kristi Kirshe, Sarah Levy, Alena Olsen, Ariana Ramsey, Steph Rovetti, Alex Sedrick, Sammy Sullivan, Naya Tapper: Rugby 7s - Women's team competition
- Katharine Berkoff: Swimming - Women's 100m backstroke
- Evy Leibfarth: Canoe slalom - Women's Canoe Single
- Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's individual all-around
- Casey Kaufhold, Brady Ellison: Archery - Mixed Team
- Grant Fisher: Athletics - Men's 10,000m
- Ian Barrows and Hans Henken: Sailing - Men's skiff
- Henry Hollingsworth, Nick Rusher, Christian Tabash, Clark Dean, Chris Carlson, Peter Chatain, Evan Olson, Pieter Quinton: Rowing - Men's eight
- Stephen Nedoroscik: Gymnastics - Men's pommel horse
- Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul: Tennis - Men's doubles
- Jade Carey: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's vault
- Jasmine Moore: Athletics - Women's triple jump
- Melissa Jefferson: Athletics - Women's 100m
- Paige Madden: Swimming - Women's 800m freestyle
- Suni Lee: Artistic Gymnastics - Women's uneven bars
- Austen Jewell Smith: Shooting - Women's skeet
- Fred Kerley: Athletics - Men's 100m
Featured Image Credit: Hannah Peters/Getty Images
Topics:Olympics, Sport
Mia Williams
