Five Olympians Who Won Fame by Losing

People love to root for the underdog, and we all love a good story. Every once in a while an athlete or a team makes it to the Olympics and fails so spectacularly (often with an interesting backstory) that they become a fan favorite just for participating. Remember the Jamaican bobsled team?

Their underdog status endeared them quickly to fans and inspired the 1993 film "Cool Runnings." The Jamaicans had not practiced much before shipping off to Calgary, where they had to borrow sleds from their competitors to race.

Despite their poor showing in Calgary and in the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France, the team surprised skeptics with a 14th-place finish in the 1994 Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, beating out the United States, Russia and France.

Read more about the team and four other fan favorites at ABC. Link -via the Presurfer

(Image credit: Jamaican Bobsleigh Team)


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