Diego Mentriga's viral moment might have cost him a podium finish but it undoubtedly won the triathlete many admirers.
The Spaniard gave up his position at Santander Triathlon last week for a rival who took a wrong turn with the finish line in sight.
In pursuit of third spot with less than 100 metres from the end of the race, Britain's James Teagle turned the wrong way, losing his spot within an instant when he found himself inside a fenced off area.
Mentriga noticed Teagle was no longer in front of him as he overtook on the final run to the line and waited metres short of the finish to allow the Brit to catch up and cross the line ahead of him.
The Englishman shook his rival's hand before running past the line with Mentriga not far behind.
Mentriga missed out on standing on the podium as a result with Teagle officially handed a third-place finish for the event.
https://twitter.com/AdriSanMiguel/status/1306928879689510914?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/im_PULSE/status/1307633690508488724?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/IkerCasillas/status/1306723880774635521?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/plalor/status/1307480376810459137?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfwhttps://twitter.com/tmprowell/status/1307683304049700865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw"Seeing how he was wrong, unconsciously I stopped. He deserved it," 21-year-old Spaniard Mentriga said after the race.
"When I saw that he had missed the route, I just stopped," he said on Euroports.
"James deserved this medal. He didn't notice the signs or they were misaligned. I don't know, but the second time I would have acted the same."
The classy display of sportsmanship has been praised across the sporting world.
Javier Gomez Noya, the runner who won the Santander Triathlon, described Mentriga's selfless as "the best in history".
from WWOS https://ift.tt/2FM5s8D
No comments:
Post a Comment