At the 1976 Montreal Olympics, the men’s 5,000 metre race was expected to be dominated by “Flying Finn” Lasse Viren, and indeed Viren did win the race, in a time of 13:24.76.

But in the preliminary heats, a plucky Haitian runner named Dieudonne Lamothe actually led the field after the first lap. Unfortunately, he quickly tired and finished last, a full five minutes after the other runners had finished. His time, 18:50.07, was the slowest ever recorded in the Olympics.

In 1984, Lamothe represented his country again, this time in the marathon. Again, he finished last, running a respectable but unremarkable 2:52.18. It was later revealed that Haitian dictator “Baby Doc” Duvalier had threatened to kill him if he did not complete the race. In 1988, two years after Duvalier had been forced to flee into exile, Lamothe ran 2:16.15 in the Olympic marathon in Seoul. He finished 20th, and still holds two Haitian national records: 2:14.22 for the marathon, also set in 1988, and 15:33.26 for the 5,000 metres, set in 1989. I suppose freedom from fear is a huge training boost.

(As an added note of trivia, Lamothe went on to win the Long Island Marathon in 1996.)

For more of the worst Olympic performances, see this page. “Worst” is a loaded term, though. These athletes completed their events, when for most, dropping out or not competing at all would have saved them some embarrassment (although not, sadly, for Dieudonne Lamothe). National pride or just individual pride to be competing at the Olympic Games has to count for something.