Because the majority of universality-place athletes are not particularly advanced at their sports, they’re often entered into the simplest possible events: Either the 50-meter freestyle in swimming, or the 100-meter dash in athletics.
There are 38 athletes in the Olympics who actually qualified for the men’s 50 freestyle, the shortest swim race at the Olympics. But there are 42 athletes participating who have been granted universality places. In the women’s event, there are seven heats of athletes before a single swimmer who actually hit a qualifying standard takes the pool.
The parade of unqualified athletes is a strange thing to witness. The crowd isn’t quite there yet—they know the people they want to see will swim later. Nobody has come here from Palau or Guinea-Bissau to cheer these athletes on. But as the races occur, whatever audience is in the building begins to realize it’s their job to support these athletes.