There is a lesson coming out of the London Olympic Games and that is 'if you are going to lose - then lose by a long way.'

Few people remember the swimmer who comes in fifth in the heats, or the 400 meter runner who finishes seventh, three seconds behind the heat winner.

But everyone remembers the athlete whose attempts end in total failure: take the case of Eric Moussambani Malonga, the swimmer from Equatorial Guinea, who swam the 100 meters freestyle in 1 minutes 53 seconds, twice as slow as the rest of the competitors and a time that wouldn't have even qualified him in a 200 meters race.

Videos of Eric were shown over the world and he became famous for being so bad. People remembered Eric, while nobody could tell you the name of the man who finished seventh in his heat.

The benefits of heroic failure are also becoming clear in London: we have only had two days of competition, but it's clear that everyone loves a loser - perhaps even more than they love a winner - they even give them their own nicknames.

Just as there was once Eddie the Eagle, who competed in the ski jump in the winter Olympic Games and of course finished last, we now have two totally appropriate new members of the animal kingdom.

The first to arrive was Otiko the Otter, a 15-year-old Nigerian who finished two lengths behind the rest of the field in the heats of the men's 400 meters freestyle on Saturday.

"It was a tragedy and we don't want to talk about it," a Nigerian official commented in The Sun afterwards.

He may have to though, because Otiko is also going to compete in the 1,500 meters, where his personal best is around five minutes slower than that of Sun Yang.

But who got the loudest cheer in the race? Otiko of course, as the crowd stood up to cheer him over the final lap, long after everyone else had finished.

The same happened to the man the Sun has now dubbed 'Eric the Eel' a rower from the African country of Niger. His real name is Hammadou Djibo Issaka and he finished his heat in the single sculls almost two minutes after the race winner.

Once again the crowd rose to cheer him on and even the announcer on the PA at the venue yelled encouragement to help him over the line.

So there is a lesson here for all of us: the Niger Olympic Committee explained Issaka, who has only been rowing for three months, had entered to "strengthen the principal of universal representation."

In the middle of the Olympics that is important, everyone stresses the main thing is to compete and do your best and in that sense the Otter and the Eel are true Olympians.

There is also the chance of improving: 12 years after his race in Sydney, Eric Moussambani is the coach of his country's national swimming team. We can all learn from that.