[WikiEN-l] Deletionism

[Thomas Dalton]

> >It continues to worry me that we would delete an article on any Olympian.
>
> Oh so we're now a directory of losing athletes as well are we?

This is getting a little off topic, but I'll contribute anyway. Anyone
that qualifies for the olympics is notable for that reason alone. The
problem with this particular case is that he didn't qualify, he got in
on a wildcard. Basically, he reached the olympics by luck - you can't
be notable simply by being lucky. However, it is a fairly unique case
and got lots of press coverage, so it's notable for that reason even
if he isn't notable for simply being an Olympian.

A similar situation - a Formula One racing driver that is always at
the back of the field. He's not notable within F1, but he's very
notable within racing in general, as he's reached the top competition.
Reaching F1 (and similarly the olympics) is a major achievement, even
if you lose.