Why Olympic Swimmer Santo Condorelli Flips the Bird Before Every Race
His dad says he does so to build his confidence
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One Olympic swimmer's pre-race superstition has viewers wondering why he flips the bird.
Canada's Santo Condorelli, 21, started flipping his dad his middle finger before each race when he was a child. His dad says he does so to build his confidence, according to the New York Daily News.
The official Canadian Olympic team website says Condorelli "always signals to his parents from the pool deck with his middle finger and splashes himself twice with pool water."
Santo Condorelli started swimming at 5 years old and competed as a youth for a few years before taking a break. After four years off, he rekindled his love for the sport as a sophomore in high school. His first time representing Canada on an international stage was at the 2015 Pan American Games, which were held in Toronto.
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Hungary's Georgina Pota, left, eyes the ball in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016. Right, Singapore's Chen Feng hits a shot in his men's singles qualification round match.
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Segun Toriola of Nigeria plays a Men's Singles second round match against Koki Niwa of Japan on Aug. 7, 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
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Netherland's Li Jiao hits a shot in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 8, 2016.
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Paraguay's Marcelo Aguirre eyes the ball in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Singapore's Feng Tian Wei hits a shot in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 8, 2016.
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Slovakia's Barbora Balazova eyes the ball in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Slovenia's Bojan Tokic hits a shot in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Romania's Adrian Crisan, left, eyes the ball in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016. Right, Paul Drinkhall of Great Britain plays Cazuo Matsumoto of Brazil.
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Czech Republic's Dmitrij Prokopcov hits a shot in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Congo's Suraju Saka eyes the ball in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Hungary's Georgina Pota, left, eyes the ball in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016. Right, Singapore's Chen Feng hits a shot in his men's singles qualification round match.
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Canada's Eugene Wang serves in his men's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
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Poland's Katarzyna Grzybowska-Franc eyes the ball in her women's singles qualification round table tennis match at the Riocentro venue during the Rio 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro on Aug. 6, 2016.
He captured a silver medal in the 100m freestyle and followed that up with a fourth-place finish in the event at the world championships a few weeks later.
Condorelli was born in Japan and grew up in Portland, Oregon. His mother is from Ontario.
