A mystery man in attendance at the Paris Olympics left viewers in stitches after stripping down to his trunks and diving into the pool to retrieve a stray swimming cap.
During the heat stages of the women’s 100m breaststroke, a swimming cap left behind by a member of Team USA was spotted at the bottom of the pool.
It prompted a brief delay in proceedings with an unlikely hero stepping forward.
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Decked out on his own jazzy trunks, the man was cheered on by those in attendance as he dived in to scoop out the cap, holding it aloft to a massive applause having saved the day.
‘Surely this is his first Olympic event, look at that!.’ BBC Sport’s commentary team joked. ‘Well done sir, give him a medal’.
Heat action was able to resume shortly after.
Team USA’s Lilly King has come to Paris to reclaim the 100 metres throne but there are no shortage of contenders eyeing the Paris Olympics golden crown.
King, who set the 100 breaststroke world record seven years ago, got her quest off to a controlled start on Sunday at a raucous La Defense Arena by winning her heat in one minute 6.10 seconds to place fifth best among the 16 semi-finalists.
After grabbing two golds, including the 100 breaststroke, at the 2016 Rio Olympics, King was kept from top spot at the Tokyo Games and instead pocketed two silvers and a bronze.
Sunday’s heats in a seething arena still buzzing from a swim by French sensation Leon Marchand provided the ideal tune-up for King, who admitted to a few nerves going into her first event.
‘The first one I’m always a lot more nervous so good to get in there and race and get it out of the way,’ King said.
‘We were getting ready, actually, when Leon was swimming and we could hear how loud it was getting so it’s fun.
‘I haven’t really been in a meet like this with this large crowd in a while, with the exclusion of our trials, but yeah, it’s been cool,” added the 27-year-old.
‘I think the trials is our most stressful meet. So once we get here it’s just time to swim fast and see what we can do.’
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