In a touching display of good sportsmanship, a triathlete stepped aside to let his opponent finish first after a wrong turn. British athlete James Teagle was on course to win third in Spain’s Santander Triathlon, but he mistakenly ran in the wrong direction just yards before the finish line. Diego Mentrida then passed him and would’ve crossed the finish line ahead of him, but when he noticed what happened, he let Teagle finish ahead of him.
“This is something my parents and my club taught me since I was a child,” the Spanish athlete explains. “In my view, it should be a normal thing to do.”
The of the act of kindness shows Mentrida slow down to let Teagle pass him at the finish line and then he gratefully shook his hand. Race organizers were impressed, too, and awarded Mentrida honorary third place and gave him the same $350 prize Teagle won. “He deserved it,” Méntrida says.