READY, Freddie, SLOW! A gold-medal hopeful wowed viewers with a “1000 IQ move” but bemused others as he deliberately came LAST in a hurdles heat – by a long way.
Olympic 110m hurdling debutant Freddie Crittenden ended up FIVE SECONDS off the winner, despite being second-fastest in the world this year.
The American belatedly celebrated turning 30 on Saturday… by finishing belatedly the following day.
Fans were split over his odd move, and were also divided once a full explanation was given.
Crittenden revealed afterwards he was “slightly injured” – with an “aggravated muscle” in his leg.
And his below-tepid performance in the heat means he hasn’t qualified for the semi-finals… not yet anyway.
The top three in each first-round race plus the next-three fastest hurdlers go through.
However, it’s not all heat ‘n miss – as there is another route to the semis, one which Crittenden expects to exploit.
The “repechage rounds” are held on Tuesday – a controversial second chance for the heat flops to qualify.
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Crittenden aims to be fully fit after another 48 hours – for a case of “Trading Races”.
And the Missouri star said: “I just had to stick to the plan.”
One fan called it a “1000 IQ move”.
And another was impressed – although you could say it was by five times LESS.
They wrote: “200 IQ move. Freddie Crittenden jogs through his hurdle heat knowing he will automatically qualify for the repechage round.”
But many viewers had watched his half-paced hurdling unaware of the reason he turned it into a Sunday stroll.
One said: “What happened to Crittenden omg? What was that.”
Another posted: “What was bro doing. Freddie Crittenden must be mad at something.”
And some fans reckoned his decision made a mockery of the rules.
One, perhaps not knowing of the athlete’s injury. wrote: “Freddie Crittenden is the reason that repechage shouldn’t exist. Using his heat as a warm up. Ridiculous.”
