American swimmer Matt Biondi
was in his prime at the Seoul 1988 Olympic Games.
He had won Olympic gold in the relay four years earlier
in Los Angeles, while he was still a teenager.
Now 22, he was the best swimmer in the world,
ready to take centre stage.
From the USA, Matt Biondi.
Such was Biondi's dominance at the time
that the ten fastest 100m freestyle times
were all set by...Matt Biondi.
Seoul was his opportunity, and he did not disappoint.
Biondi won gold in the 100m freestyle,
three golds in the relay, and set a new world record
winning the 50m freestyle.
He was the king of the pool,
the Californian Condor.
Yet, for one small corner of South America, Biondi was
more of a bit-part player - a supporting actor, if you will -
in what became a nation's greatest sporting moment.
With a population of half a million, Suriname,
a former Dutch colony,
is the smallest nation in South America.
There it is, just above Brazil.
Suriname's Olympic record was modest.
Very modest. To be completely straight with you,
they had no record at the Olympic Games.
Gold - none. Medals - none.
Let's face it - the odds were not in their favour.
At the 1988 Games,
the United States sent 527 athletes.
Suriname sent six.
But you need to be in it to win it,
and there was some hope that,
at the very least, their swim team -
a team of precisely one athlete -
would do the country proud.
Anthony Conrad Nesty,
born in Trinidad and brought up in Suriname,
was competing in his second Olympic Games.
He swam at Los Angeles 1984,
finishing 20th in the 100-metre butterfly,
a result that earned him
a college scholarship to the United States.
Four years later, Nesty, 21,
made it all the way to the Olympic final.
Reaching the last eight was a big deal for Nesty,
and a huge news story back home in Suriname.
But this was going to be tough.
In lane three, the 1987 Pan American Games champion,
from Suriname, Anthony Nesty.
Nesty was not a great height for an Olympic swimmer,
looking up at his rivals in his preferred event.
The line up was awesome.
Andy Jameson of Great Britain, fastest in qualifying,
hadn't lost a 100m butterfly race for two years.
Michael Gross of West Germany -
the Albatross - was the reigning
the Olympic champion, out to defend his title.
And then there was the all-conquering Biondi.
As they completed the first lap,
Biondi was well in the lead.
Just two lengths, and one turn.
And by now, Biondi was crushing it.
A big finish was required, and that's what it got.
Now, watch Biondi.
Watch his reaction.
"What the heck just happened?"
Jameson bronze, Biondi silver
and Anthony Nesty of Suriname gold?
By one hundredth of a second?
It was such a surprise
that even Nesty wasn't sure what to do.
On first sight, it looked like the American had won.
But coming to the end, Biondi had mistimed his stroke.
He had decided to glide in. It was a huge mistake.
Nesty timed his finish perfectly,
the golden touch by one hundredth of a second.
Biondi won every race he took part in
for the rest of the Games,
winning five gold medals.
But that day belonged to Nesty,
and to Suriname.
The gold medallist and Olympic champion,
representing Suriname, Anthony Nesty.
The first black male to win a gold medal in the pool,
he became a massive hero in his home country.
Suriname went Nesty crazy.
Nesty stamps.
Nesty coins.
There was even a Nesty aeroplane.
That's, like, so over the top.
Yeah, tell me about it.
The Suriname legend
had more than a fleeting moment in the limelight.
It was a well-deserved golden era of Nesty.