The Crowd's Favourite Rower Did Not Win a Medal | Strangest Moments

[@KudaFamily]

“Not much of an athlete at all...” was a bit much.

[@paulrispin4989]

Exactly. He looks like a decent athlete. Just not an experienced rower. With coaching and training he could be much closer to the others.

[@jamesb4263]

Well disrespectful

[@Red-mo2uo]

Yeah but he wasn’t a rower at all 3 months before

[@ExtraVictory]

I think it's based on his size and the fact that he was 3 minutes behind medal contention lol. They pointed out he's like 40cm shorter and 3 minutes slower than the winner. That's "not much of an athlete" by comparison lol. Of course he's still going to be a great athlete compared to normal people. I'm 188cm and 170lbs, and I don't think I could row that boat 5 times before gassing out and falling unconscious

[@sportymcsports]

Disheartened the Olympic channel would refer to an Olympian in that manner.

[@naijen4230]

I am doing rowing myself and I know it is really hard to keep a boat in balance alone. So it is very remarkable he learnt it in this short amount of time.

[@JasonX2]

He's not balancing the boat, he's skimming his oars along the water to keep it level.

[@Skittl1321]

@@JasonX2 if you think that's enough to not capsize, I can't imagine you've spent much time rowing a 1x.

[@NobuNobuSimp]

@Paint and puzzle I mean yeah it's definitely not what's stopping a 1x from capsizing but he definitely hasn't learned to balance it.

[@manuelmarquez4833]

Coming in at that time with only 3 months of rowing is actually very impressive. I know people who have dedicated years and still struggle to hit the 8:30 mark. Makes me wonder what he could do if he had significantly more time to train.

[@luuduonghy659]

If he do more than few year in Rowing, he should be able to beat 7 minutes 15 second barrier, but we never know sadly... Sad to not see him in Rowing 2020 Olympic

[@5AMmonke]

8:30, years? I dont think so

He remembers me the Jamaican Bobsled Team (Coldrunners) in Calgary 1988 Winter Olympics. Both stories inspire other athletes in underdeveloped countries to have the opportunity to practice some sport modality and, eventually, have a chamce to represent their countries the Olympic Games. Amazing!

[@paulcollings4885]

I was there as a military (RAF) volunteer, watching from the stands, the atmosphere was absolutely electric during this race, the main commentator told the crowd about Hamadou and how he had got to the event and even though all the other rowers were in having their showers the crowd erupted with applause and whistles when he finished the race. WE ALL LOVE AN UNDER DOG!

[@blakeevans4441]

Tldr: “the medalists grinded for decades, but everyone actually cared about this guy no one knew and was really slow” .......... ok buddy

[@redmen2822]

Blake Evans Lol I knew exactly who each finalist was, had no idea about this guy however

[@davidsawang6784]

@@redmen2822 ok buddy

[@ChelseaKMusee]

Come on we all start from somewhere, at least he tried.

[@educeu9961]

I'm sure his participation increased interest in the sport in his country and the neighboring countries. I love the Olympics because it's about giving people hope and inspiring youth to dream. Also, how often do you see people from poorer countries in rowing, sailing...any other sport that requires quite a lot of money/resources. Although they have A standards for time for the other athletes, I don't think his time was TOO terrible - just a couple minutes off the leading time so I think the wildcard entry was totally fine given what it achieved - didn't interfere with the other athletes' performance and it was hugely inspiring and entertaining to the public. Yay!

[@johnharber4638]

There are children faster than him I'm afraid. Just 'A couple minutes' in rowing is really quite an enormous difference

[@SeveredLegs]

I think this was a bit disrespectful to this guy, particularly the tail end. But I also think these guys shouldn't be competing if they can't row a respectable time. You should have to medal in a regional regatta (at least) to qualify.

[@PieEater]

A bit?

[@rowanirving6252]

Also the Olympic Games are there so that a country can put forward their best, turns out he was

[@arcadeplayer9804]

Olympic isnt just about your time,score and medal...thats why there are team like olympic refugee compete in the games

[@SeveredLegs]

@@arcadeplayer9804 waste of time.

[@andrewroberts7428]

@@SeveredLegs you're the only waste of anything around here!!

[@ochiengdonald6740]

As much as the elites would have preferred to take the slot,its more to do with cultivating a sport.And yes we would all want the best of the pack in the Olympics,but sport should be inspiring of people without access to similar exposure as well as those with the access...so yes those who clocked better times in their 15 teenage selves should be proud and rather get better to get the slots for the elite...while those from countries with zero experience should get inspired to understand the potential of developing an elite team to get on the world stage...again 3months compared to years of experience combined with the right resources to me speaks potential.Lets develop the sport in countries that are new to it...we might be telling a different story in time.Proud Issaka!Well done Brother!

[@Hairold1000]

As nice as this story sounds, it’s really disrespectful to other rowers that have dedicated years of practicing hours a day almost every day throughout the year. They put so much time and effort and some wildcard that began rowing for 3 months gets to go to the Olympics while others who’ve dedicated their life to the sport can’t compete

[@mayapanos5169]

Jcfnan it really is I’m only a novice rower currently but we put in 5 days a week at least into training every season

[@pettygryphon9285]

@@bb3xhrhj annndddd that was highly offensive but no surprise there coming from you Comrade

[@XxKiDCuDiFTWxX]

Get off your high horse.

[@Gabriel.Ponce.De.Leon.777]

Jcfnan you don’t even know how I agree with you. At two stages of my life I’ve been into swimming and rowing, dreaming about olympics on each one and on both I’ve seen on tv a stupid scene like this: people clapping and cheering while the competitor is making a fool out of himself while I’m thinking _i didn’t make it to the olympics and I’m 10 times better than this idiot. I give u a like but a dislike to the video.

[@rileyganger4217]

@@Gabriel.Ponce.De.Leon.777 he’s not an idiot he was the best in his country therefore he goes I’m assuming you’re country was in it and you’re probably 1000 times worse then the guy who went also I’m assuming you’re not from his country and couldn’t battle for that spot to go

[@suryamohan3410]

he's like that British skiing guy

[@alexkay5745]

Eddie the eagle is my guy

[@robw7676]

I was very proud to be British watching the 2012 games and seeing the huge support given to the Olympians from other nations who were never going to win medals but competed with pride. The politics of who should compete are another matter. It is hard on whoever missed out, but also important that the Olympics inspires & ensures broad representation. If every sport were decided purely on merit, some events would feature only 1-3 countries, which is not in the spirit of the games.

[@harry4596]

Look, a bunch of ignorant people in the comment that call the guy disrespectful for being at the Olympics and don't know what Olympic Tripartite Commission Invitation Places are... smh :')

[@evilpandakillabzonattkoccu4879]

This is me when I ran distance in track. Painfully slow and clapped in as I finished ever race in dead last. Ugh.....

[@jamespostle6894]

I feel like it's unfair to him because the olympic committee invited him to race in the first place so I don't think it's fair to hate on him for being there.

[@charlieforster9910]

bruh every j 18 single sculler at nats this year beat his times

[@sophieandwayne]

Love this storey, just imagine if he had the chance to train young and in the same environments as the other contestants. Reminds me of Eddie the eel! Epic

[@thepeatboggy]

He probably wouldn’t make it, he has pretty bad biomechanics for rowing

[@PieEater]

Nice to know that this guy beat someone who has put thousands of hours into the sport for years... wonderful

[@mitchellheffernan3024]

When i started rowing i couldnt even set foot in a single for a year. This time with 3 months training is mind blowing

[@fernandolemos2823]

This is totally BS. How can a guy that started rowing 3 months prior to the Olympics, be allowed to compete? What about all the other guys who dedicated their life to the sport and didn't get the same opportunity?

[@Odhil95]

Every country has the opportunity to send someone from their country. Since there's no competition in certain sports in a lot of countries, everyone can take them by performing once and it ends up in these type of situations. I'm from a south american country with no snow. However, certain austrian guys who had a mother from this country wanted to take part in the winter olympics for our country. Since there's no ski competition in our country, these athletes could enter without any problem. And that's how a mediocre from average athlete can perform in the Olympics: Representing a country with no background in a certain sport. No. It's not about "political correctness" or "exotic countries".

[@SimplyGaming23]

Because he was the national champion, and every country has a chance to send people to the games, so obviously they're going to send their national champion.

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

It was a case of charity which has o place in the Olympics.

[@Bremmel100]

@Celtic Snow So "our own" people matter more? no, this is the basic idea of the olympic games. A peaceful way to meet and compete with people from the WHOLE world, not only the elite.

[@elpred0]

Wildcard and promove sport around the world. They did not stole anything to anyone.

[@alphascorpii185]

Always remember the words of Pierre de Coubertin, founder of the modern Olympic games : "l'essentiel est de participer" (the most important thing is to take part.). At that's make good movies too, remember "Rasta Rocket" ...

[@mogyorosimarton3626]

Sir Redgrave was totally right, he shouldn’t be allowed to compete. Simply because of giving him a wildcard, an elite rower from from Europe was not able to compete. Olympic wildcards are total bullshit.

[@tigger3589]

they keep our sport alive though

[@SeveredLegs]

There's no danger of losing the sport overall. Wild cards are stupid. The biggest "danger" would be losing the lightweight events or other small boats. If I'm remembering correctly, they don't even have a women's 4- race. Seems weird to have a 4x but no 4- or 4+. I guess internationally, 4x is more common?

[@alec1020]

Yeah but his story could inspire others from his country to try going for a spot in the Olympics this is just the first step in getting developing countries more involved with the rest of the world. Just like the first jamaican bobsled team or eric the eel did for thier country. U gotta look at the bigger picture the Olympics isnt just a competition about winning.

[@marcotognazzi]

KevvyLava The women’s four is an Olympic event now, but they removed the lm4- from the program

[@SinghCharan]

And then you go against the very spirit of the Olympic. Olympic's motto is give privilege to unprivileged and that's what they did.

[@LegitimateContent]

Not any kind of Cinderella story here. It's like if the ATP invited a beginner tennis player to play Roger Federer in the US Open. Just completely pointless and kind of offensive to the real competitors who have actually suffered and sacrificed for decades. And the blame lies on the IOC, not on the amateur athlete

[@hatimtim7629]

Hero... In his way... Olympic spirit say: the importance is to participate

[@dariuszmrowca1177]

This is ridiculous LMAO

[@rishabh3920]

Huge respect to Issaka the Otter and Eric the Eel 🙏🙏🙏🥰

[@niravbhanot7422]

Dimaag khrab he kya tera

[@fleurbovens6356]

Sounds like I’m going to the Olympics guys

[@cactusy9332]

He's just like the Eric the Eel. Sometimes Olympic committe put their brain at their knees.

[@workout9594]

He has an athletic body stop shaming him

[@V1RT8]

That’s the spirit of the Olympic Games. Every Country has the right to send its athletes, and they don’t need to be champions.

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

That's just subhumanly stupid.

[@victor.pastor_]

oh come on... the end of this video is just laughing about him

[@hendrawinfarrel1808]

PROUD OF YOU HAMADOU

[@TheKadonye]

C'mon, it highlights the sport and widens interest in it, so that certain sports aren't restricted to specific countries. This is a good thing, dunno why guys are are bitching. I wouldn't be watching this video if it wasn't for Hamadou

[@ochiengdonald6740]

True very true!

[@casparvoncampenhausen5249]

I know 12 year olds that row better than him...

[@df_productions]

Just be happy he learnt a very hard sport in three months.

[@elliehigginbotham6900]

‘Not much of an athlete at all’ um doing 4 2ks on a world stage after only 3 months in a boat is a massive feat

[@jaymanxv]

Bet I could run the slowest time in the 100m final.

[@generalsubotai6423]

Remember Kenya and Ethiopia 1956, of course no one does. They won nothing, they were like this guy. 1960 first Ethiopian won a Gold medal and now we know what happened to your so called good sporting nations who can't compete in long distances running anymore.

[@viparoliesperanton1979]

ok king

[@DangerDave-e7u]

Great stuff.

[@jackyoung4575]

Can we stop the comments about how he could have been actually good... like no. Anyone who actually rows knows that is an atrocious time. I am 16 and did a 3200m piece in three foot white capped waves and crazy headwind and went about the same speed as this guy. He should not have been allowed on the olympic course because most of my high school rowing team could beat him.

[@mayapanos5169]

Jack Young I’m only a novice coxswain and could spot over 20 things wrong with his stroke 😪 it’s a shame that my rowers train 6 days a week to even be able to go to states but this dude trained for 3 months and went to the Olympics

[@pettygryphon9285]

Prove it in a video or GTFO

[@mayapanos5169]

PettyGryphon I’ve seen your other comments and your obviously not a rower so I believe that you should just shut your mouth :)

[@df_productions]

If your high school team can beat him go to the Olympics. His country wanted to try something different. The fact he finished is amazing. Why are there so many comments condescending him.

[@alexg5513]

Typical old British superiority attitude of Redgrave, with no true olympic spirit along with those negative comments below. The true spirit is to promote sports and sportmanship to all countries who may not have the opportunity to take part. It can help transform a smaller nation and show them how important it is to put money into equipment, building gymnasiums club houses or swimming pools etc..Issaka will have met so many ppl with huge amounts of knowledge which he will feed back into his system, to the coaches, younger athletes and his government. Introducing the Wildcard is the best thing that the Olympics have every done. Knowing you are not of an excellent standard and then to compete takes guts and a belief that they are also doing it for their country.

[@johnhathewayg4054]

Yeah no I know high school rowers in my area who’ve pulled faster than that. I could probably pull faster than that tbh. (Rower for 3 years)

[@archiej6386]

2:09 I bet you re taller than hi?

[@ChelseaKMusee]

Geez mate at least he tried.

[@mytsampa2044]

the narrator is being sarcastic lol

[@willykaranikolas2391]

Honestly, it's not that great of a story. Yea sure it's nice to give random people chances at great things, but this guy showed up to the wrong event. Taking the spot of a rower from anywhere in the world who has likely spent 25+ years in a single skull, and who dreams of the Olympics isn't really that touching of a story. And come on, 8 and a half minute 2k? I was doing better than that when I was 15 years old. If you're gonna give a "wild card" out, at least give it to somehow who shows true love, passion, and Olympic-level skill in the subject; instead, this guy comes to the Olympic games in MENS SINGLE SKULL (maybe the most fierce and intense event you can get at the Olympics) after only stepping foot in his first boat 3 months prior!!

[@prez902]

aw man 3:55 gets me

[@jamespostle6894]

While he shouldn't have been there its still pretty good for three months of rowing.

[@johnnyllooddte3415]

i doubt you can do it in 9minutes.. hes the best from his country and will get better

[@emiliobello2538]

I hope he has a movie about him and that it’s in French

[@akinohikari1000]

not much of an athlete at all? I would like to see *you* try sculling, dear narrator, let's see if you can get anywhere near a competitive time.

[@SeaJayBelfast]

akinohikari1000 he wasn't much of an athlete. Amateur junior boys could beat him convincingly

[@cwoassont4385]

akinohikari1000 Or even keep the boat right side up.

[@stephenradley8412]

or even finish a 2k lmao

[@sebastianeckley5906]

Matthew Atkinson I could beat you

[@federal-bureau]

What about you

[@zzanderTV]

Issaka, LEGEND.

[@atmusic276]

I really don't like stories like this. Public opinion loves stories of sportsman who came from exotic country, take the last place and is shown by media as example of "Olimpic spirit". It works espacially during winter games. In the same time everybody seems to be delighted by ski runner from Africa, who isn't actually able to compete, while (I'd give example from my country - Poland) disrespecting alpine skier who took 45 place in 60-people rate, and saying that "he shouldn't be there for our money" For me, example of real athlete is somebody who trains whole his life, to became best in his country, and without money resources comparable to elite still tries to compete with them, and lose 2-3 sec. Not somebody who just came for fun and can't even try to compete on regular level. I hope my reasoning logic, despite my english ;)

[@samwallace3469]

I think it is fine that this guy was able to perform at the Olympics. At a regional/national level, he was not contested. Throwing him into the deep end in a competition like this would show him how far he still has to go if he wants to be among the best. Glorifying his subpar performance, however, is unnecessary. He could have taken the games as a failure and used it as motivation to improve, but the crowd and media loving exclusively him would've at least planted the idea in his mind that he can be successful by being just a mediocre athlete.

[@niravbhanot7422]

Dude you are right

[@OwenVoelkner]

The commentator is pretty harsh 😤 3 months is not much time in rowing, I just uploaded some single scull training videos actually 👍

[@gordonramsey2356]

Owen Voelkner rs

[@OHYS]

Shameless self-promotion

[@alexwang9476]

noway I just found the ov in the comments 😤😤😤

[@C-qc657]

Woow there seems to be a lot of professional rowers in the comments, may I ask what your pb was after only three months of rowing??

[@hunyadimatyas8698]

Not good but then again that was middle school. But, you don't get the point no one has gone to row at the Olympics with 3 months of training, it's unheard of. The problem is that someone who worked WAY MORE than 3 months was not able to row because, of a motherfucking wildcard.

[@anuph.3806]

he stared 3 months ago and still didnt embarrassing himself and was not toooooo far behind all things considered.

[@milespennington5255]

Needs work on his form.

[@supernoodles908]

You don't say....

[@kenta9112]

@@supernoodles908 I feel like he has the same skill level as a Learn to rower

[@supernoodles908]

@@kenta9112 I think it's a little better than that but not far off

[@kaiomilnejones9649]

Mahe Drysdale is my teacher's son

[@hunyadimatyas8698]

Really!!!

[@doggysoul2679]

I don’t thing he was well prepared. If prepared, I think he would have thrived

[@jamesb4263]

This is a little disrespectful.

[@tsetan4792]

Well, when I ran cross country race for the first time I was 38 out of 40 n I thought I was fast 😬😜🤷🏽‍♀️

[@baribari600]

*everyone* capsizes on their first attempt...

[@rachelrusso3123]

Proud! Well done Osaka!

[@seanwhitehall4652]

On what planet was this the crowd's favorite rower?

[@devmathur5003]

Underdog stories are inspiring

[@hunyadimatyas8698]

Dev Mathur lol

[@TheZanshen]

At least he has the b…s to compete no matter what the cost.

[@atakentaco9768]

This angers me

[@mattilassen1892]

Would be interesting to hear redgraves opinion on fellow Brit eddy the eagle

[@bb3xhrhj]

He's making a mockery of the Olympics.

[@BruhImAGirl]

Im a lightweight woman. I go faster than that

[@nhlakaniphombatha5198]

You’re missing the point here.

[@df_productions]

@@nhlakaniphombatha5198exactly

[@df_productions]

So?

[@まーちゃん-n2r5i]

最後ぜったい沈したやろ？！

[@kodeina1926]

he may be a athlete but he doesn’t deserve to get a wild card for olympics in other water sports many professional athletes are not able to compete there only because someone decided to give insanely small amount of quotes (5) for pre olympic year world championship and 2 more in olympic qualification in the olympic year (the amout of professional athletes who deserve to be in the olympics is around 18 with almost the same results) and I think 3-4 more wild cards of countrys like this so they are just tourists what is the point of not letting professionals to compete and let people who are trained 3 months in their life this sport lol.....

[@niravbhanot7422]

What what what???? I still cant understand what this person in the video want to convey!!! This event will always be remembered due to the winners

[@MsPenink]

It’s silly. Like a parent letting their kid win a game. It’s a sympathy entry. Did he know how fast the others were before racing?

[@SinghCharan]

Given the conditions he was very fast. Coming within 2 mins of Gold position in 5 months - simply wow

[@basedcrusader209]

You cant just put someone in the olympics just because he is from a shithole and cant even compete with real sportsmen

[@jackvickers1608]

Your definitely not a rower 2 minutes is along time Even for 3 months training

[@Gabriel.Ponce.De.Leon.777]

I hate this kind of stupid emotional criteria. so, why not me? I’m a lot better than this guy, and I also come from a Third World country.

[@КристинаАйрапетян-р9л]

Главное не победа а участие в играх👍

[@Vinod.2020-k4z]

Now this is the Movie I want to see if ever made.

[@katiegrim3497]

those times are really impressive though for only 3 months of rowing. he’ll become an elite athlete in no time if he sticks with it

[@phil-zz5hk]

eddie the eagle another example

[@arcadeplayer9804]

Redgrave only see olympic as a place to win medal every 4 years....he should know better, but ig he become cocky with his medals

[@dario8982]

Hes very brave

[@田中太郎-p5q]

Whether you believe rower's passion or not is up to you.

[@millsykooksy4863]

Here from Gina

[@товарищСухов-п7ф]

They send him to olimpics jast because they can, and he make fool of himself. My best time in 1987 in 1x was 7m11s, and i wasn't even dreaming compete in Olympics. And it took him 9min to finish 2000m. What a joke.

[@lostshinegaro8989]

What is the music?

[@gostavoadolfos2023]

I don't see why people favored him. Nothing to see here..

[@plJaryn]

I wait for a film with Elizabeth Swaney

[@MM-yt2tc]

Ah, this is so cool !

[@Candycanecapun]

Is this sarcasm

[@CRTPR]

That ore hight

[@thomasholmes8063]

Hamoudoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@UndergroundPsychology]

What?

[@narayanankutty226]

He is a legend honestly like if yu agree

[@Dr.Schlitz]

The fact that this guy made it through 3 heats without capsizing after just 3 months of training is a miracle. That said, this is a blatant case of "Olympic Tourism," and it denigrates the games.

[@realser9]

Muy legal 🙌

[@val91201]

you mean muy illegal

[@fatimaamedu8965]

Issaka lost because the negative commentary of the commentator manifested his loss ...let’s see the commentator row!!

[@filipmilanovic9535]

It's funny that I, a 14 year old boy row faster in mens single than him

[@m_i_h_i_n2611]

Shoulda listened to Redgrave.

[@yossisofer5918]

👍🏻👍🏻👍🏻

[@kimsssss]

Im early!!