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| |  Sunday, 5 August, 2001, 12:10 GMT 13:10 UK Trevor the Tortoise trails in last Misapeka pounds the track in the 100m Burly "sprinter" Trevor Misapeka has earned a place in athletics folklore with a devastatingly slow performance in the world 100m heats. The 21-stone American Samoan delighted the Edmonton crowd as he trailed in last in the first heat in a time of 14.28 secs. He was nearly four seconds behind the heat winner. Misapeka, who boasts a menacing stare and array of tattoos, has already been nicknamed Trevor the Tortoise. He was delighted with his effort, which could easily have been matched by some of the schoolchildren in the sparse gathering which watched the morning heats.
"That's it, that's my personal best, I've never run that far before," smiled Misapeka, after recording one of the slowest men's sprints ever seen at a world championships. "Fourteen seconds is a little embarrassing, I didn't think I ran that slow. "I figured if I got out of the blocks without falling on my face that I had a good chance of finishing the race. "One thing is for sure, I know I'm the heaviest guy to run the 100 at the world championships. "We're big, you don't see a lot of Samoan sprinters." Misapeka joins a list of great sporting failures, following in the footsteps of British skijumper Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards and swimming flop Eric 'The Eel'. American Samoa's new hero played four years of top-level American college football at Idaho State and Western Washington Universities.
The 22-year-old defensive tackle came to Edmonton ready to compete in the shot put. But when rule changes prevented him taking part in that event, he entered his name on the 100m start list alongside Olympic champion speedsters Maurice Greene, Ato Boldon and Donovan Bailey. He will stay in Edmonton to support his only team-mate and sister Lisa, a bronze medallist in the hammer at the 1999 world championships. "My real love is American football and I just wanted to get some exposure and maybe a try-out with a pro team somewhere," he revealed. "I was going to do the shot put, but the IAAF changed the rules from two automatic qualifiers in the field events to two in the track events at the last minute.
"Maybe after seeing me run the 100 they might want to think about changing them back." For his race, Misapeka wore a black sleeveless T-shirt, bought at a Polynesian festival, and ordinary street trainers. "I was standing there and didn't know what was really going on," he admitted. Misapeka now lives near San Diego, but was born in Pago Pago and regularly returns home to American Samoa. "I think they'll be proud back in America Samoa because I was out there competing and doing my best," he said. "If I was running against Maurice Greene, I probably would have been lapped if that was possible in the 100." | |
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