The Olympic track and field events are fully underway, and many people following the Games are sure to be excited to see some of the fastest people on the planet—but they got something a little different earlier today.
American Olympic hurdler Freddie Crittenden, one of the world’s fastest runners in the 110-meter hurdles event, came dead last in his heat and appeared to be jogging along without giving too much effort.
He ended the race with a time of 18.27 seconds, five seconds slower than the second-last runner. At first glance, this may seem like a strange move, but an after-race interview with Crittenden revealed it was all part of his plan.
“I kind of made a plan today to just get through the rounds,” Crittenden said after the race. “Luckily, this year, there’s a new thing called the repechage round, where I can kind of lean on that.
“The plan was to either get through the warm-up and try to get the top three or kind of coast through, make sure I make it through the line because every athlete has another chance to race at the repechage round.”
“I just had to stick to the plan”
American hurdler Freddie Crittenden purposely runs slowly, in order to advance to repechage round at #Paris2024 pic.twitter.com/aqMPmCNycB
— CBC Olympics (@CBCOlympics) August 4, 2024
Crittenden revealed that he had been dealing with a very minor injury over the last few days and was hesitant to give it his all as it may have aggravated it. Coming in last in his heat hurts his medal chances a bit, but he already knew that he would qualify for the event’s repechage round, which gives athletes a second chance to get back into medal contention.
That repechage round doesn’t go until Tuesday, giving the 29-year-old Crittenden two days to heal up. Given his ability, there is a good chance he can place well that repechage heat and get back into the thick of things.
Even with that plan in place, Crittenden admitted that he was a bit hesitant about the strategy.
“It was very hard when I came out here. This is my first Olympics, and this stadium is amazing,” Crittenden said. “To come out here and not succumb to the adrenaline and the emotions was very difficult, but I knew it was in my best interest, so I just had to stick to the plan.”
It’s certainly a unique plan for a first-time Olympic runner who has high hopes of capturing a medal. Whether or not it pays off will be solely up to how he can perform in the upcoming repechage round.