Olympic Heroes

Olympics time is upon us once again. I did 8 portraits of Olympic athletes that are known for more than their athleticism. It’s for Wings inflight magazine for Eurowings, a Lufthansa company. Dorando Pietri - Italian marathon runner in 1908 London games who took a wrong turn in the last 350 meters and was even 10 min ahead of 2nd place runner. He collapsed under the grief and was disqualified. Nishida Shuhei and Oe Sueo in the Berlin 1936 games declined to compete for 2nd and 3rd place and were awarded silver and bronze on a technicality. They had their medals cut and spliced together. John Stephen Akhwari in the Mexico City 1968 games finished the marathon more than an hour after the winner. His determination inspired the ‘Finisher’ medals marathon runners get today. Lawrence Lemieux in the Seoul 1988 games saved two Singaporeans from drowning in the Finn class dinghy race and finished 22nd. Eric Moussambani a 100 meter freestyle swimmer from Equatorial Guinea had a hard time finishing in the Sydney 2000 games because recently learned how to swim in a small pool back home. Dara Torres asked officials to delay the race so her rival could fix her ripped swimsuit in the Beijing 2008 games, she ultimately didn’t win gold. Ricardo Blas from Guam is the heaviest Olympian in history. At the London 2012 games he weighed 218 kilos.