Much debate over Elizabeth Swaney’s inspirational road to Olympic embarrassment

If you tuned into the Winter Olympics the other day to see incredible feats performed by supernatural athletes, you may have been disappointed.

Elizabeth Swaney’s uninspiring run on the freestyle half-pipe would fail to make the cut on both the “thrill of victory” and “agony of defeat” video montage.

But for the official Olympic number on her coat, Swaney’s leisurely swooshing looked more like morning lessons on the bunny hill at Beaver Creek than a qualifying run at the world’s quadrennial event.

Her pedestrian attempt left most uninitiated viewers wondering how Swaney ever made it to the Olympics. Still, for others her humiliating experience is all that counts.

So just how did the 33-year-old American with a graduate degree from Harvard make the Hungary team?

From The Denver Post:

Like most things these days, social media was split over Swaney’s being able to participate. Many think she merely gamed the system:

Others found it more within the Olympic spirit that she was able to live out her dream:

Paul Newberry of The Associated Press says there is no room in the Olympics for Swaney or anyone else of her ilk.

Newberry writes:

As for Swaney, she seems undaunted by the criticism and hopes that her unflattering performance becomes a motivational point for others in the sport.

“I want to inspire others in Hungary and the world to become involved in freestyle skiing,” she said. “Maybe perhaps I’m the bridge to those who want to get started in the life of freestyle skiing and I want to show people that, yeah, it’s possible to get involved in freestyle skiing through a variety of backgrounds.”