Usain Bolt's iconic 'Lightning Bolt' pose is among the most iconic sights in sport, but it was Scottish table tennis player Gavin Rumgay's 'wedgie' celebration during his match against Canada's Pierre-Luc Theriault in the men's team event which grabbed the headlines at Glasgow 2014.
Rumgay had levelled the match against his Canadian rival at two sets all after training 2-0 and his response to this was to grab his shorts, show his pants and give himself an impromptu wedgie. The Scot then completed a spectacular comeback to win the match. Upon winning the game, the 29-year-old proceeded to roll on the ground before leaping up to dance to The Proclaimers' song '500 Miles'. Rumgay was reprimanded for his actions, receiving a warning and a yellow card - but he did not seem unduly bothered by the rebuke. He said: "Table tennis is like Tourette's - once something happens on the court you have to continue it. I'm just in the zone and it happened. It's a funny yellow card."
The Scot began his men's singles campaign last night, beating Canada's Andre Ho to move into the last 16. His reaction to that victory may have been a tad less exuberant, but there is little doubt what it means to the Scot to win for his country at a home Commonwealth Games.
That Rumgay received a warning at all for his unique celebration is something of a mystery. While his reaction may have been out of the ordinary, it surely caused little offence and it can be argued that flashes of personality are required to keep sport entertaining.
The celebration did more than merely provide some entertainment for the fans, though. The Scot may not have been playing for a medal but to him, that did not matter. Rumgay has trained just as long and just as hard as the athletes who competed in the medal matches last week.
The stories of athletes who have made countless sacrifices just to be at Glasgow 2014 are endless. Rumgay, the Scottish number one, trains twice a day but receives little funding so has been forced make a considerable commitment in order to continue at an elite level. Stories like his could perhaps be forgotten amid the record-breaking haul of medals Team Scotland has so far amassed at these Games.
And that's why an outburst like the Scot's wedgie celebration will, for me, be forever welcome. In those few seconds, Rumgay showed how much it means to represent Scotland, what it means to win for Scotland and just how much of a release is needed in elite sport. The Scottish table tennis players may be unlikely to add to the Scottish medal tally, but the value of their individual victories cannot be overstated.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article