Spanish triathlete shows incredible sportsmanship by giving up medal to rival who went wrong way

Why Diego Méntrida's decency should matter to us

By Rohit Brijnath, The Straits Times, 22 Sep 2020

After a weekend of baskets and goals, after unflappable Liverpool and unstoppable Tadej Pogacar at the Tour de France, after an agitated Novak Djokovic and a bicep-flexing Bryson DeChambeau, here's the real question we should ask:

Would we do what Diego Mentrida did? Would we have stopped?

It's possible you haven't heard about Mentrida yet but it's understandable, for he isn't particularly famous or easily recognisable and yet he produced an act of such simplicity this month, it will shake you up.

In a triathlon in Spain, a British triathlete James Teagle who was in third place, misread the signs, went 50m the wrong way and then, as is apparent in a video, crashes into a metal barrier close to the finish line. In the ensuing chaos, Mentrida overtakes him.

Bad luck, Teagle?

No, good guy Mentrida.

The Spaniard stops before the finish line. He waits. He lets Teagle cross the line before him in third place. "He deserved it," Mentrida said later and yet he had done what athletes are trained not to do. To give way.

Victory every day is helped along by error, by a defender slipping in the rain for instance, but this was different. This was not the normal course of play, not the breaking of strings on a racket but a misreading of directions. Mentrida was aware that if it wasn't for Teagle - who was evidently unaware of the way - running into the barrier the British triathlete would be ahead. The race, he decided, deserved a decent ending.

Still, would we have stopped?

No one would have raised a critical eyebrow had Mentrida taken advantage of his luck. Too bad, he might have told Teagle, and we may have agreed. Nevertheless, in what Teagle called a show of "incredible sportsmanship and integrity", Mentrida halted and it is such an affecting moment that you will rewind the video and watch it repeatedly.

There is no fuss from him, no flourish, just respect for Teagle and the sport he competes in. Mentrida must have been tired for this is the triathlon and yet in exhaustion he found clarity. His instincts, we might say, were beautiful. In the heat of the moment, the greatest excuse for idiocy in sport, he found his finest self.

And so let's ask again, would we have stopped? Is it in us? Do we care enough for sport?

Reports say the organisers gave Mentrida the same prize money as third place, a case of one fine gesture sparking another. But Mentrida did not know this when he stopped for Teagle. He did not think of the cost and always there is one. To give way is to sacrifice prize money, ranking points, a podium place, presumably the very reasons why Mentrida competes.

Winning is now hardwired into young humans, who are instructed that this is what you play for. Coaches scream it, newspapers trumpet it, entire documentaries - The Last Dance - are focused on it. So Mentrida, in effect, is going against the grain, he is proving that an alternative theory exists where there is room for sportsmanship.

This hardly sullies sport, it enriches it and gives it a shine, but it only comes from good schooling. Mentrida wrote on Instagram that "this is something that my parents and my club have taught me since I was little. In my opinion it should be considered as a normal situation". When Teagle thanked him - and he did so repeatedly - the Spaniard shrugged. He made the astonishing look routine.

It has been a hard time for athletes lately and yet a fine time for sport. Sportspeople have spoken out against sexism by commentators, have challenged racism and police brutality, have quietly worn masks of protest, have taken a principled stand. On fields, skill has come allied with character.

Elsewhere Victoria Azarenka, 31, comforted a weeping Daria Kasatkina, 23, when her rival rolled an ankle, helped put ice on it and packed her racket bag. Rivalry is hollow without respect and Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp advertised football's best side when he barked at a team official who celebrated Chelsea's red card: "Are you crazy? We never ever do that, okay?"

Mentrida reminded us that sportsmanship can't just be an ideal, it has to be practised, else spirit becomes just an empty word we utter at school assemblies. A young man, only 21, stopped when to run - and claim third place - was easier and in doing so he made us pause. He answered his conscience and inadvertently posed a question:

Would we have stopped?

And why not?