Footage of Ewa Swoboda competing in women’s 100m at the Olympics went viral, but not for the reason you might expect
There’s a good reason why Polish Olympian Ewa Swoboda corrected her salute gesture ahead of her 100m sprint, according to viewers.
Now that we’re officially into the final week of the 2024 Olympics, it’s a good time to take stock on what has happened so far.
I mean, there’s been plenty of talking points, right?
We’ve had all the controversy surrounding the boxing gender eligibility row, and Simone Biles being pretty incredible as we’d probably all expect.
And on Saturday (3 August), Polish sprinter Ewa Swoboda left many Olympic viewers scratching their heads with a gesture she did to camera after giving it her best shot on the track of the women’s 100m.
The gesture had confused viewers. (Twitter/@thefigen_)
Bizarrely though, the athlete quickly corrected her gesture by swapping it over to her left hand instead – and it turns out there’s a very good reason why.
The unexpected gesture baffled a lot of viewers at first, but many watching at home think they may have worked out why she did it.
“At first I didn’t understand and at the end I didn’t either. What happened there?” one person asked on Twitter.
Many flocked to the comments section of the post to provide their thoughts.
At first I didn't understand and at the end I didn't either. 😂
What happened there?pic.twitter.com/SPZYmvBPps
— Figen (@TheFigen_) August 3, 2024
“Ewa Swoboda switches to her left hand to say a casual hello. The right hand is traditionally used for military salute,” one user explained.
While a second added: “Army salute is with right hand so to not be disrespectful she switched,” as a third agreed: “That’s why I always salute with the left right means military salute.”
Indeed, according to The US Department of Defense, the military use their right hand to salute, only swapping to the left if their right is injured.
Swoboda is an eight-time Polish champion in the 100m but had a very disappointing display in Paris, having failed to make it to the next round of the event.
Elsewhere in the Olympics, the pole vaulter who saw his penis ruin his chances of a medal in Paris has spoken out.
France’s Anthony Ammirati has gone viral after an NSFW mishap brought his Olympics dream to an end.
The Olympian correct her mistake (Steve Christo – Corbis/Corbis via Getty Images)
He told the French Athletics Federation: “I’m a bit gutted, because I didn’t miss anything on the third attempt at 5.70 m. What I did miss was a bit of jumping in training to fine-tune the settings. Just a technical session.
“I was 100 percent physically, but I was missing a bit of pole vault.
The conditions were good. It’s the first time I’ve started a competition without any stress. As I was a total outsider, I only had one goal: to interact with the audience. I was almost there.”
