Hiram Moreno
There are many ups and downs in life, and the world of sports also complies with this rule. There are good days and bad days, but there are times when athletes and sportsmen and women seem to have got off on the wrong foot, and this in a highly competitive environment where everyone is looking to give their best always stands out as a contrast to other performances.
This time at JefeBet we are going to look back at some of the worst sporting performances in history.
A Career of a Lifetime
This anecdote can be categorized as both curious and one of the worst performances for a marathon runner in history.
Shizō Kanakuri was due to take part in the 1912 Olympics in Sweden, but getting from his native Japan to Sweden was no easy feat in those days, and the journey took a toll on his performance.
He took the Trans-Siberian to reach Stockholm on a trip that lasted 18 days, during which he did not live in the best conditions: discomfort, inability to sleep… the Japanese’s situation was understandable. Once he arrived in Sweden, the situation did not improve, as the local food caused indigestion and intoxication, so his days leading up to the Olympic marathon were not the best.
The day of the race arrived, but not as he was not in his best condition, he collapsed before completing the 42 kilometers. A local farmer found him and provided him with help to recover. Once he was in better health, Shisō Kanaguri returned to Japan without notifying the race judges, who wrote him off as missing.
It was not until more than 50 years later that Swedish authorities tracked him down, and discovered that he continued to participate in other marathons. In 1967, the Swedish Athletics Commission contacted Kanakuri and invited him to finish the race, and he gladly accepted, although this time he traveled on a much more comfortable airline.
The marathon runner would complete the race in 54 years, 8 months, 6 days, 5 hours, 32 minutes and 20.3 seconds, and along the way he married, had six children and ten grandchildren.
David Luiz being David Luiz
David Luiz’s drop in performance as his career progressed is undeniable. The David Luiz for whom Arsenal paid Chelsea was not the same one for whom the “Blues” paid €25 million to SL Benfica in 2011, and a match against Manchester City in June 2020 made this clear.
The Brazilian came on as a replacement in the 24th minute of the first half and as soon as he took the field, the defense began to show weaknesses. Nearing the end of the first half, David Luiz cleared an erroneous cross, giving the ball away for Raheem Sterling to make it 1-0.
The second half started no better. The Citizens gave the ball to Riyad Mahrez, who outpaced Luiz and had no choice but to commit a penalty, and being the last man, the referee did not hesitate to send him off in the 49th minute.
25 minutes, a mistake that ended in a goal, a penalty and a red card. An infamous performance that will be remembered for many years to come.
The King of the “Golden Sombrero”
Many may argue that hitting a baseball thrown at over 100 kilometers per hour is one of the most difficult tasks in the entire sport. Well, maybe that’s why some players get paid up to 20 million dollars a year… a “fair” figure for hitting a little ball that sometimes even your eye can’t see.
If you want to know how hard it is to hit, you can ask Geoff Jenkins, the Milwaukee Brewers player who in June 2004 in a game against Anaheim wanted to take the “Golden Sombrero” even further and donned sneakers, pants and a gold jersey after striking out six times during the game, one of only eight players in MLB history to have this dubious honor.
Double Quadruple
Jason Kidd’s NBA career has been memorable, and it is not for nothing that he is a member of the league’s Hall of Fame. Kidd, who currently serves as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks, was one of the most complete players of his era, with his ability to grab rebounds and dish out assists being coupled with a great shooting ability.
All this helped him to achieve triple doubles on a regular basis. In fact, Jason Kidd has the fourth-most regular-season triple-doubles in the NBA(107), and he is also fourth in postseason triple doubles (11). However, one day Jason Kidd wanted to go a little further and record a quadruple-double, albeit not a good one.
In a game against the Knicks in November 2000, Kidd recorded 18 points, 12 rebounds, 10 assists and 14 turnovers, with the latter tying the worst single-game mark in the NBA in the latter category. History is history in the end, and Kidd has a lot to be remembered for during his years on the stave.
