An Olympic rower once stopped mid-race to allow ducklings to pass; he still won the race
It turns out that Pearce was so good that he could afford to make the races a little harder on himself. In the quarter finals of the 1928 Olympics, Pearce pulled up during his race to let a mother duck and her ducklings pass in front of his boat.Henry 'Bobby' Pearce was one of the best scullers of the early 20th century. The Australian phenomenon won Gold Medals at both the 1928 and the 1932 Olympic Games. He came from a long line of talented scullers and his family is referred to as the "First Family" of Australian rowing.
Who could say no to those floating balls of fuzz? The crowd, especially the children were delighted by this act of kindness.
Pearce went on to beat his opponent, Frenchman V. Savrin, and easily win the race. He also set a new Olympic record of 7 minutes 42.8 seconds. He went on to win the gold, and thanks to both his prowess and the duckling incident, his was one of the most popular victories at that Olympics.