This took place on September 13th.
A Spanish athlete is being applauded on social media after he sacrificed a top tier win in the 2020 Santander Triathlon to give it to a competitor who took a wrong turn on the course.
British athlete James Teagle was on course to win third place in the competition in Spain last weekend when he made a mistake metres from the finish.
Diego Méntrida overtook him but noticed the error and stopped to allow Teagle to cross first.”He deserved it,” Méntrida said later.
El triatleta madrileño Diego Méntrida dejó pasar a su rival cuando éste se equivocó de camino antes de la meta. Peleaban por el tercer puesto en el Triatlón de Santander, que ganó Gómez Noya https://t.co/ZCgxlZQIeL pic.twitter.com/b83zwDTAVX
— EL MUNDO Deportes (@ElMundoDeportes) September 17, 2020
This is what sports, indeed all areas of life, should be like.
A cynic might say the publicity he got for the gesture was much more than he would have got for getting third place. But given that it was a spur-of-the-moment decision, I’ll take the uncynical view.
But I still think the best recent example in pro sports was the manager of Leeds United in a match against Aston Villa last season. A Villa player went down injured, but the ref didn’t blow the whistle. The Villa players stopped, expecting Leeds to kick the ball out of play. This is not a rule, merely a convention in soccer, but not always adhered to. Leeds continued play, and scored a goal. The Leeds manager, Marcelo Bielsa, ordered his team to allow Villa to score. Only one Leeds player dissented, but he couldn’t stop Villa scoring on his own.
What made the gesture more notable was that a Leeds victory would have guaranteed them promotion to the Premier League. They ended up not getting promoted, although they succeeded the following season.
It should be said that I am a lifelong Leeds supporter.
Actually, this was the season before the last one.
Not long ago, Magnus Carlsen (chess world champion) deliberately conceded a game to Ding Liren in a $150,000 tournament after Liren lost the previous game due to time-out from disconnection.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Zb6nH7qYYc)
And for contrast to acts of good sportsmanship: Trump is a chronic cheat at golf, according to this: https://golf.com/lifestyle/celebrities/how-why-president-trump-cheats-golf-playing-tiger-woods/.
#1 Rob
Given the frequency of farcically overacted “injuries” in soccer, I think it perfectly justified in continuing play if the ref doesn’t signal the injury. And after looking at the footage, I have to say this looked like another such case. There was no impact, and maybe even no contact whatsoever; the guy just lost a contest for the ball. It was a strategic fall.
Oh and the silly brawl of silliness afterward! Hilarious and sad at the same time.
Holms @5: The only clear example of simulation in that match was by the Leeds player Bamford after Leeds scored, which resulted in a Villa player being sent off. When replays were studied, Bamford got a two-match ban for ‘successful deception’.
If you’re convinced the Villa player who went down before Leeds scored was faking, I can only surmise you’ve never actually played football.
I have played a contact sport, I have also played soccer. Ba dum tish. Anyway, you did not address the point I made: the default behaviour should always be to play on in the absence of a stoppage, as flopping is rampant in soccer. If there is an expectation that the ball be kicked out just because a player has fallen down, there is a strong incentive to flop. On that specific occasion, the ref did not see a serious injury nor improper player contact, and the absence of stoppage means play on.
Oh and check out the ensuing mass shoving match for a very pretty flop demonstration.
Holms @7:
Since it’s not a rule, the ‘default’ behaviour is up to the players. What’s for me to address? If you actually watched much soccer, or had played competitively at any level, you’d know that the vast majority of cases in which a player goes down and the ref doesn’t stop play are utterly uncontroversial. The players on both sides almost always agree on when the ball should be put out of play.
Believe it or not, refs aren’t infallible. The players (on both sides) are probably more qualified to decide when a player needs treatment.
Yes, that was the Leeds player Bamford. The guy that got the two-match ban for flopping.