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QWOP

D'oh!

You are Qwop, our small nation's sole representative at the Olympic Games.
Use the QWOP keys to move your legs.
Ideally you will run 100 metres...
...but our training program was under-funded.
Remember, it's not about whether you win or lose.

—Title screen for Qwop

QWOP is a Flash-based Sports Game by foddy in which you must get the titular athlete to run 100 meters without falling over. Uniquely, you control Qwop's individual thighs and calves. It is much harder than it sounds.

Despite the game first coming out in 2008, it achieved massive internet popularity and Memetic Mutation in December of 2010 after Ray William Johnson showcased a Let's Play video of it.

Warning: make sure you periodically look at the time. A related game also by foddy is Winner vs. Loser

which is likewise based on track & field, and its Spiritual Successor is GIRP for the idea that controlling basic human motions is difficult.

QWOP has examples of the following:

Bonus Round: When you finally hit 100 meters, you hit a long jump pit. In this case, it's more like a long stride pit, but still.
Deconstruction Game: On complicated controls.
Determinator: To an extent, both the player and the player character. No matter how many times you flip 720 degrees and crack your skull, you just keep trying for those 100 meters.
Epic Fail: It is possible to walk backwards behind the starting line, not only achieving a negative distance but also slamming into a wall behind you. Assuming you don't fall through the ground.
Gravity Screw: The low gravity makes running at more than about 1.5 meters per second impossible, so don't expect to break any world records.
Guide Dang It: You probably won't figure out that the right way to move forward is to alternate pressing Q and P together, then W and O together without looking it up.
Hand Wave: Qwop's questionable motor abilities are the result of his nation's poorly-funded training program.
Have a Nice Death
PARTICIPANT — showing real courage, you ran: x metres — everyone is a winner
Leitmotif: get Qwop up to speed and you'll start hearing the intro to the Chariots of Fire theme.
Meaningful Name: QWOP's name refers to the keys you use to control him, Q, W, O, and P.
Nintendo Hard: No checkpoints. You die with the slightest brush against the ground.
The Pratfall: The difficulty of the game makes these nearly inevitable.
Ragdoll Physics
Silly Walk
Some Dexterity Required: Used intentionally.
Stock Shout Out: to Chariots of Fire.
Yet Another Stupid Death: Or rather, another stupid backflip.