Spanish triathlete shows incredible sportsmanship as he lets his rival take bronze medal
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Heartwarming moment Spanish triathlete shows incredible sportsmanship by stopping on finishing line to let rival take bronze medal after he took a wrong turn on the course
- Video shows Diego Méntrida stopping at the finish line to let British athlete pass
- James Teagle was on track to place third but ran off course metres from the end
- Méntrida, 21, was praised on social media as showing ‘the real values of sport’
- He was given an honorary bronze and a €300 prize by the Santander Triathlon
A Spanish triathlete who stopped at the finish line to let his competitor take the bronze has been praised for his sportsmanship.
Diego Méntrida was trailing British athlete James Teagle at the final stretch of the 2020 Santander Triathlon in Barcelona, Spain.
But Teagle mistook the direction of the course, allowing Méntrida to overtake him just metres from the finish line.
Teagle failed to turn the corner onto the final stretch of the race and hit one of the course markers. In the video, he throws his hands out in exasperation at the mistake, believing it had cost him third place in the Santander 2020 triathlon, which took place on September 13.
Méntrida managed to overtake Teagle at the last moment but noticed his competitor’s mistake soon after. Méntrida let Teagle pass him for third place and later said that ‘he deserved it’.
Méntrida stopped at the finish line in what online commentators have described as an incredible show of sportsmanship. Footballer Adrián San Miguel said the gesture exemplified ‘the real values of sport’.
Teagle shook his rival’s hand in gratitude as he took third place. Santander Triathlon later awarded both men a bronze medal and €300 (£274) prize money.
Video shows Teagle failing to turn a corner and running into a fence outlining the spectators’ area less than 100 metres from the end of the race.
He threw his hands out in exasperation as Méntrida overtook him.
But Méntrida looked back as he was running and noticed Teagle’s mistake.
He stopped just before the finish line and the two men shook hands as he let Teagle pass him.
‘He deserved it,’ Méntrida later said.
He wrote on Instagram: ‘This is something my parents and my club taught me since I was a child. In my view it should be a normal thing to do.’
He said he was ‘proud’ to receive so much praise for his actions.
Footballer Adrián San Miguel said on Twitter that Méntrida’s gesture exemplified ‘the real values of sport’.
Méntrida was awarded honorary third place by the triathlon organisers and the same €300 (£274) prize money as Teagle, according to Spanish newspaper El Mundo.
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