“Eric Moussambani” meme: meaning, origin and rare card

What does the “Eric Moussambani” meme mean?

The card celebrates anyone who finishes — badly, last, alone in the lane. It fits an assignment handed in late but handed in, a race completed at walking pace, a project that somehow stands up. The tone is admiring rather than mocking: the Sydney crowd got to its feet, and that reversal, last place cheered like a win, is what the meme replays every time it is posted.

Where does the “Eric Moussambani” meme come from?

Eric Moussambani Malonga, born on 31 May 1978 in Malabo, reached the Sydney Games through a wildcard scheme for developing nations with no qualifying time to meet. He had learned to swim eight months earlier and trained in a twenty-metre hotel pool. In his 100 m freestyle heat, both rivals, Karim Bare and Farkhod Oripov, were disqualified for false starts, so he swam alone and finished in 1:52.72, more than twice the world record of the time, to a standing crowd. The English-language press nicknamed him “Eric the Eel”. He missed the 2004 Athens Games over a passport photograph problem, then became the swimming coach of his national team, which he led at the London Games in 2012.

1. 31 May 1978Eric Moussambani Malonga is born in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea
2. 2000He learns to swim, training in a twenty-metre hotel pool
3. September 2000At the Sydney Games he swims his 100 m freestyle heat alone, finishing in 1:52.72
4. 2004He misses the Athens Games because of a passport photograph problem
5. 2012He coaches the Equatorial Guinea swimming team at the London Games

How to use the “Eric Moussambani” meme

• Posted for someone who finishes long after everybody else.
• Used to salute a disastrous start that still reaches the end.
• Offered as an answer to “I’ll never manage it”: he did, so the argument is over.

The “Eric Moussambani” card in MyMemeCards

Number	No. 797
Rarity	Rare
Collection	Memes FR pack
Fame	65/100 · #294 of 790
Recycle value	10 MemeCoins (30 in Shiny)
Suggested by	@furiwatax

How to get the “Eric Moussambani” card

Every pack holds 5 meme cards, the first 3 of them Common; Eric Moussambani comes out of the Memes FR pack as a rare card. The pack odds say what each rarity weighs.

Your first pack is free and needs no account. After that a new free pack lands every 10 minutes, up to 3 waiting for you. You can also buy the card with MemeCoins on the market, bid for it at auction, or trade it — and a double recycles into 10 MemeCoins.

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