True Sportsmanship

The 'GENTLEMEN' athlete

Proof that good hearts are around us. Iván Fernández Anaya gave away victory to help out Abel Mutai, the Kenyan athlete who won a Bronze medal in London Olympics.

The Spanish runner trailed Olympic bronze medallist Abel Mutai of Kenya during an event last December.

Mutai, who thought he had reached the finishing line and won the race, had actually stopped ten meters sooner than the actual end point. People in the crowd tried to tell him that it wasn’t the right place to halt but he couldn’t understand them because he doesn’t speak Spanish.

Ivan Fernandez Anaya, who could’ve easily taken advantage of the confusion, explained the Kenyan athlete the whole situation and pointed towards the original finishing line and helped his competitor win the race by doing ‘the right thing’.

“I didn’t deserve to win it,” Anaya, 24, told El Pais. “I did what I had to do. He was the rightful winner. He created a gap that I couldn’t have closed if he hadn’t made a mistake.”

“All in all, he’s just a true athlete in every sense,” Jordan Armstrong of Hampton, Virginia wrote on Facebook. “Does the heart good.”

Haidie McGilbert of Sydney, Australia said: “Such a great story. He deserves a massive commendation.”

Anaya is garnering plenty of attention on Facebook and Twitter as well, with hundreds of followers as a result.

“We talked a little bit but we didn’t understand each other much,” the Spaniard told Catholic News Agency. “He thanked me for allowing him to win.”

The only person who wasn’t impressed was Anaya’s coach.

“The gesture has made him a better person, but not a better athlete,” Martin Fiz told El Pais. “He has wasted an occasion. Winning always makes you more of an athlete. You have to go out to win.”