Brownlee brothers prove winning isn't everything
- Published
Olympic silver medallist, Jonny Brownlee was leading the pack in the final 700m of the Triathlon World Series in Mexico, when heat and exhaustion got the better of him.
As Jonny started to wobble, his older brother Alistair caught up with him. Rather than racing past to try and win, Alistair stopped to grab his brother, helping him to stay upright, and finish the race.
The pair staggered to the finish together, where Alistair pushed his brother over the line in silver position, following behind to take the bronze himself.
Alistair's been praised for supporting his brother instead of taking the chance to get another gold, but he's not the first sportsperson to help out a rival athlete....
Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D'Agostino impressed everyone at the Rio Olympics this year in the qualifying heat for the 5,000 metres. With 2,000 metres left to go in the race, New Zealand's Hamblin tripped and fell, accidentally taking down the USA's D'Agostino with her. Whilst D'Agostino quickly got up, she stopped to help Hamblin rather than immediately carrying on. When she later tripped, Hamblin stopped to help her as well, and the two crossed the finish line together.
Shawn Crawford (pictured left) finished fourth in the 200 metre sprint at the Beijing Olympics, 2012. But he was awarded a silver medal, after the runners who had finished second and third were both disqualified for stepping on the lines. Crawford felt the result was unfair, so rather than just enjoy his silver medal, he later posted it to one of his disqualified competitors, saying that it should have been his.
And finally, here's one your mum and dad might remember - in 1992, British athlete Derek Redmond was racing in the 400m semi-final of the Barcelona Olympics, when his dreams were shattered. His hamstring - an important muscle at the back of the leg - snapped, making it impossible for him to keep running. Determined to finish the race, Redmond started to hobble around the rest of the course. His dad was watching from the stands, and fought his way past officials to get onto the track to help his son cross the finish line.
- Published28 July 2015
- Published19 November 2012
