This is one of the greatest Olympic stories of all time. It gives hope to us all. Elizabeth Swaney of Team Hungary competed in the skiing halfpipe which usually features fantastic air and tricks from the athletes however she put in the most average performance of all time, simply meandering up and down the slopes.
Granted she is a decent enough skier, but in comparison to some of her competitors, she was pretty poor. So how on earth did this mediocre skier make it all the way to the Winter Olympics in Pyeong-Chang?
Well very cleverly, she found a loophole in the qualifying system and exploited it to the max. She attended every World Cup qualifier for two years and finished in every single one of them.
This safe technique allowed her to finish in the top 30 of most events and secured her passage through to the Olympics. She was completely self-funded throughout her preparation and qualifying campaign and would not have made it if she had crashed at two or three meetings.
She now has an army of admirers on social media with many fans calling her the worst Olympian ever. Swaney’s score of 31.30 (out of 100) was over 40 points behind Anais Caradeux, who scored the lowest score to progress to the final.
"I didn't qualify for finals so I'm really disappointed," she told NBC after she finished last in the halfpipe competition. Swaney, you are an inspiration to us all. If you want to compete in the Olympics, find that loophole and fund yourself on a two-year worldwide qualifying campaign.
There is something quite prophetic about succeeding by not falling over rather than doing fancy tricks, however. Watch Swaney’s full run below.
