Roberto Caracciolo did not know whether to laugh or cry when he was selected to run for Equatorial Guinea at the Olympics.

Because, like it or not, he was always going to be compared to Eric Moussambani. Caracciolo’s hapless countryman provided one of the most farcical moments in Olympic history four years ago when he struggled to finish a 100m swimming heat.

But the 22-year-old is determined to put as much distance between himself and Moussambani when he competes in the 1500 m on Friday.

“I don’t know if Eric not being here in Athens is a blessing or not,” Caracciolo told BBC Sport. “I guess if he had been it would have taken some of the heat off me. At the same time, I might have just punched him and said what the hell are you doing, man?”

Caracciolo added : “But I can’t fault him too much. He just did his own thing and, like myself, he jumped at the opportunity that was given to him. He did not know the repercussions. Unfortunately it’s something the rest of us are going to have to live for many, many years”.

Caracciolo has never met Moussambani. The son of a US diplomat, he was born in Barcelona and has been based in the United States for the past 13 years.

He had a spell living in Equatorial Guinea when he was a child, and qualifies to run for the west African nation because his mother Nuria was born there.

While Moussambani did not make it to Athens because officials lost his passport photograph, Caracciolo arrived to find out he would not be able to enter his specialist event.

He had trained to run in the 3000 m steeplechase, but eligibility rules meant he had to rely on the wildcard lottery for smaller nations.

To make things worse, the population of Equatorial Guinea are under the impression that he is a genuine medal contender. “They are saying on TV and radio all the time that they’ve got this great athlete who’s spent all his life in America and is bringing his own coach to the Games,” he said.

“So basically I feel pressure from everywhere. It seems like they are expecting this guy to come out of nowhere and sweep gold. When I think about it it almost makes me sick to my stomach.”

Caracciolo is a psychology graduate of the University of Albany in New York State, where he was their top steeplechaser and a runner-up in the American East Conference championships.

But he competed in only a handful of 1500m races during his college career. His plan for Friday’s heat is to stay with the leading pack until the 800m mark, and see what happens after that.

“I feel pretty ready and we will see how I finish,” said Caracciolo, who has set up his own website - robinathens.mindsay.com - to share his Olympic experiences with the world. “I hope I don’t turn it into a racewalking event!”

“Maybe I’ll take a dive into the steeplechase pit if things are going really badly. But I don’t plan on becoming another Eric and drowning on the track or anything like that. I’m not pretending to be someone I’m not. I know I’m most probably not going to get out of my heat”.