Second chance for a Spanish swimmer after leaving the pool in tears 

people do not understand that this is years of waking up at 4am, 5+ hours of training every day, no social life, blood, sweat, and tears to get to this level all to ruin it in a small mistake. so happy the officials let him continue

I was touched by judges giving him second chance, you can imagine how hard these athletes train. It is not only a change but also a hope.

If anyone was wondering, Miguel got 8th in the 400m, which was last place. It was most likely because of the panic and crying that prevented him from preforming his best. He’s truly a winner in my eyes.

I cant imagine so many people bashing him for losing this race. To be able to compete at Olympics level he's won thousands of races in his life, worked harder than any of you everyday to achieve his dream of being an Olympian

That looked like a genuine mistake to me, he was teetering over the edge and just couldn't stop himself. Poor guy. Glad they gave him another chance.

The moment he grabbed his stuff to leave was enough to make a grown man cry

So sad to see him collecting his things and leaving with tears. Comments talk about him being 8th in the end. But at least he was the 8th fastest person in that category so…..

I don't care if he won a medal or not. He's a winner. He's a swimmer. He's a human. He worked hard to get where he is now. He deserves just as much respect as any other swimmer.

wow honestly imagine going through everything to get there and when you finally do you false start. that must be absolutely terrible

I accidentally tapped the replay button and I thought he failed twice...

Imagine all your years of hardwork crumbled in just a split second.

The thoughts that must have been going through his head as he slowly tipped over.

I think everyone can related to that. He basically fell off and then dived. Definitely deserved a 2nd chance. The people want a real race.

The judges didn't penalize him because it was clear that the swimmer wasn't intentionally trying to cheat. The replay shows he lost his balance. Most swimmers are not so lucky. Even if its a mistake but it kinda looks intentional , they get sent off.

So glad to see his people were not mad at him. Instead they understood his genuine mistake and encouraged him.

People cheering him after commiting a mistake makes me believe in humanity. We are all in this together. 👏👏👏

I felt so sad when I saw him take his things and walk away while crying. I'm glad that he got a second chance

It's inspiring to see the crowd cheering him.

8th place at the Olympics is still an incredible feat as you are the 8th best in the world out of 7+ billion

This is so SO difficult. I used to swim and EVERYBODY counts off different. This is literally the most stressful part of a swim meet lmao.

As an old swimmer, I can't tell you how tense it is just to stand there, facing with the water and waiting for the call, shivering

Dude I was so sad I was about to cry never felt more sad for a person I saw one minute ago. He looked crushed

Him losing everything, waking up every morning to train for hours, all that mental stress, the impact this would make when he returns to spain and everybody knows about this mistake.. the embarrassment and shame....all this and more went through his mind until the referees gave him another chance...man I never cried so fast.

It looks like he just lost his balance.

Respect for the officials who gave him second chance. Double respects for the crowd who motivated him.

I cannot even imagine the roller coaster of emotions he was going through while he was leaving

every athlete deserve a second chance when he/she makes a false start. Olympic committee needs to review this issue. In Tokyo Olympics 3 sprinters were disqualified due to false start and one sprinter disqualified today due to false start. They should be given second chance.

Dude i cried i could feel his pain.

That was an accidental false start. He didn't mean to dive in the water like that.

If you think he's crying imagine the confusion his goggles must be feeling

Mistakes SHOULD BE FORGIVEN. Because the pressure an Olympic athlete feels is TREMENDOUS !

As a swimmer I've had this happen to me before, and I can't explain the disappointment you feel in yourself.

It's annoying that we couldn't see him swim.

Olympic not a just game it's spirit of many people..... 🇮🇳🙏

When he was holding that nose..my heart breaks along with his 💔 that 2nd chance was a reborn. What a relief they didn't allow the game to start yet and just let him be the only one jumped into the pool, the story might gone opposite if everybody's already in the water.

*For the non-swimmers in the comments*: when you are on the blocks before a race with your feet on the wedge and your arms below you, once you start going forward there is no stopping that momentum untill you hit the water. The way swimmers position their bodies on the blocks is so that they are just barely before the threshhold where they would fall forward, this allows them to pass that threshold faster when the officials start the heat so they can a quicker start. What likely happened was when they said "stand please", he heard the sound at the beginning of the sentence and started forward just the tiniest bit, and although he realized it wasn't the buzzer and didn't keep going pushing forward, it was too late and he was already on his way to the water. This happens all the time at my state meets, in fact moreso than local meets because of people's nerves. As for why officials say "stand please", there are a variety of reasons. Some of the more frequent ones are technical errors, a swimmer does not look positioned correctly at the blocks, one swimmer is behind the rest when it comes to getting into position, people start moving forward (such as in this case), etc. Sometimes they will do it just to test the swimmers and make sure they are not anticipating the buzzer, although this would be more rare at an olympic level meet.

Imagine he fell into the pool again in the second chance

For all those wondering where did he finish , this was a heat and he finished 37th overall out of 50.

I have to say though: The starting signal normally appears very shortly after the "take your marks", in this case it took perhaps longer than he was used to, and that might have been what caused the mistake. Does anybody have information on a statement by him after the race? Thanks in advance!

Oh my goodness, he was soooo embarrassed! Thank God that they let him come back!

Wait a moment. He was crying inside his glasses?

As someone who has swam for 10 years competitively, it's really easy to anticipate the starter and to accidentally false start. This starter took a very long pause after saying "take your mark," which is why he fell in. I feel so bad for him it wasn't even his fault.

Props to the swimmers who stepped off the block.

He lives in Spain, but for a moment there, the 'S' went silent...

This almost made me cry, I can’t imagine how he felt after falling like that. He probably thought that all the effort he put into training was wasted. I remember when this happened to me when I was training, I wasn’t competing or anything but I felt so horrible about it. I appreciate the judges giving him a second chance!

You can't hand every athlete a gold medal but a heart of gold and hope, that scene is amazing.

Heart touching . His tears shows her whole life hard work he put in his passion swimming ❤️

Imagine how happy the crowd would be if he won gold on the 2nd try and how pissed the other swimmers would be haha

It was like he passed out for a split second! He just fell forward, there was no reaction from him til he was already falling

Not only did he train hard years for this, but his friends, family, extended family, people who he knows but not in contact with anymore but recognize him all saw his mistake, as well as people he doesn't know personally, and some probably thought he was trying to cheat. That stings

The amount of hard work and the pure blood, sweat and tears it's heartbreaking to see that. Nice to see that it wasn't in vein and he got a 2nd chance

In the 1970s my dad would wrestle with one of the best in the state. He qualified for the only olympics in the history of the olympics that was cancelled, due to tensions with Russia. Working his whole life and achieving that only to be completely shut down.

Plot Twist: He did right, others didn't want to swim

Am so glad they give him another chance.

I’m so touched by this. Thank you for those who let him continue!

Crying not because of disqualification. Crying because he let his country down(his thoughts,not mine).

Everyone: Oh! That’s so emotional. Me:HOW THE HECK CAN HE SEE WITH TEARS IN HIS GOGGLES?

i am more in awe over the audience that gave him their support and love, than i am with the fact that he got a second change by some silly judges

We are living during a time of uncertainty, where everyone or every country is taking sides but to see this honestly got me a little emotional. Just at how all the countries in there cheered together for him. They all came together and showed support.

That was so heartbreaking. I had to take a moment. So glad they let him swim.

YEARS of his life training for this moment and he gets disqualified for leaning forward too far? Glad the officials noticed it wasn't a real false start, just an accident.

so heartwarming the reception he got from the crowd, everyone in the stands knew he was devasted by something that was a complete accident. Moments like this that make me love sport

him: 😔😭🙏💔💔 the audience: 🙂👏✨✨❤️❤️

So many hours of training and sacrifice these athletes do just to reach this pinnacle stage and to go w/o having a shot at the olympic medal, it can be actually heartbreaking... Really happy for him

The way in which we picked up his stuff defined the pain he faced watching all his lifetime struggle going to vain....So glad they gave him a second chance....Also an amazing audience ! 🙌🙏🙌

Awesome that they gave him a second chance....Beautiful.

¡Excelente video y gran enseñanza! 1) El dolor por la frustración de ser castigado ante la impotencia de ser uno mismo el responsable de la causa. 2) La vida te puede dar nuevas oportunidades. 3) La celebración de la gente demuestra que el deporte siempre une a los pueblos.

Every athlete can feel that pain

After so many sad news on the internet, this is one of the things that gives me hope for humanity

For alot of people making it to the olympics is a BIG accomplishment so even if he didnt win a medal. So im really glad that the officials gave him a second chance.

I am very sure that he didnt get a second chance because the reffs felt pity for him, but because there was something wrong with the starting signal. I was a professional swimmer for many years and probably heard many thousands of starting signals. And this one was definitly weird...

It is good to see people with enough emotion to cry.

That’s the most heartwarming thing the officials would do. Only kind people do that. Bless the officials and the people who made that decision

I watched him in 2016 and he’s one of the best swimmers I ever seen

The rules are stupid, they should allow 1 false start instead of an automatic disqualification.

i know how it feels... so nice this is a fair competition

I remember when this happened! Felt so bad for him. I totally cried when they gave him a second chance.

Honestly . Watching Olympics is one thing but moments like this really shows humanity and what true sportsmanship is really about

He definitely tipped over, and his swim instincts kicked in so he dived

Spanish fan in the railing: VAMOS HOSTIAAA!!!!

I'm glad they seen sense. He clearly wasn't doing it to gain an advantage by jumping the gun. You can tell he was already slowly tilting forward, and by the time he realised he was going to fall in, the momentum had already taken him too far to pull back.

Love and lot of respect to all participants ,their parents and trainers from all over the globe who put lot of efforts . Do your best ❤️❤️❤️

imagine if he false started again

I love reaction of the people Humanity is still alive

I will be forever Grateful to judges for this

lmao the russian guy was like ' vodka is strong '

Imagine going all the way to what is presumably the OLYMPICS, to have the only chance most never get to in their lives, then just slip up the slightest.

1:26 Even Aquaman's cheering for the courageous Spaniard

Aww, props to the judges for the second chance and kudos to the Spanish swimmer who never gave up. THIS is what Olympics truly is about.

They should always get a second chance. Just because your at the top level doesn’t mean you’re not gonna make mistakes.

That was so kind of them to give him a second chance! He looked so sad!😔

Second chances is the best part in any form of life- because this will determine the action who gives it and the other person who will perform it better than what it's already been performed.

Woww. Emotions are outpouring!!! The tears of the fans watching this would end up increasing the water levels in the swimming pool

You used to be allowed one false start before being disqualified but too many people abused it by using it like a practice start, glad to see the officials were able and willing to let him swim

1:06 (crowd cheers) This dude is like...????????????????? "What... oh he back, cool lol

For those wondering, he got 6th or 7th place out of 8 as far as i remember.

Spirit of sportsmanship in judges

The audience reaction was amazing!

guy: accidentally jumps in the pool before start and becomes upset and regretful the crowd: cheering

Legend has it he is still on the starting block afraid to double fault.