In a similar vein to finishing last in the Tour de France, there’s a website chronicling the last-place finishers in the Olympics. DFL

And if you’ve asked yourself, “Self, I wonder if I could compete in the Olympics?” The answer is almost certainly not.

During the 2006 Winter Games, I embarked on a study of the qualifying rules — how hard, I wanted to know, was it to qualify in each sport? As it turned out, very hard. Quotas on the total number of competitors per event. Minimum standards, including a certain number of points earned in international competition. And, even in the more open events, a basic requirement that you be a bona fide competitor with a record of participation. (I didn’t have time to check the summer events this time around, but I imagine the situation would be similar; apart from the wild card lottery, which is very limited in scope, it’s very very hard to get to the Olympics.)

These people are very talented, and train really long and hard. Even the ones who finish last.