Three athletes who took gold thanks to their nobility and humanity (4 photos)
Against the backdrop of the events of the past Olympics, I would like to recall cases when the moral qualities of athletes prevailed over their ambitions, and thanks to this their names remained inscribed in history. 
Pushed the opponent to victory
In 2012, at an athletics competition in Navarre, Kenyan runner Abel Mutai was confidently in first, but then suddenly stopped a few meters from the finish line. It seemed to him that he had crossed the line and the race was already over. So he started greeting the fans and thanking them for their support. The spectators, in bewilderment, shouted at Abel to continue, but he did not understand Spanish and continued to stand, absolutely pleased with himself.
The second was the Spanish athlete Ivan Fernandez. He understood what happened, but did not take advantage of the situation. Instead, he first started screaming at the Kenyan to run. And then everything was like in the cartoon “Cars” - Ivan literally pushed Abel to the finish line so that he would cross the line first. 
Abel Mutai and Ivan Fernandez
When asked by journalists about the reasons for his action, Fernandez answered briefly:
"It's more important to me to maintain honor than to win a gold medal."
So Abel Mutai took the “gold” thanks to someone else’s nobility, and Ivan Fernandez became a legend.
Victory and ducks
This is a much older story, but still a telling story. At the 1928 Olympics in Amsterdam, Australian rower Bobby Pearce was a confident leader in the quarter-final heat. But at some point, a duck with ducklings blocked his way.
Probably, at this moment, the athlete and the duck were in approximately the same shock from what was happening. But Bobby stopped to let the birds pass without harming them.
While he waited patiently, several athletes passed him. But as soon as the duck family cleared the way, Pierce pushed harder and still finished first.
After that, he won both the semi-finals and the final just as brilliantly. And 4 years later he repeated his success at the Olympics in Los Angeles and became the first two-time Olympic champion among rowers. 
Bobby Pierce
I had no idea that they also paid for this
In 1983, Australian farmer Cliff Young unexpectedly won the Sydney-Melbourne ultramarathon. For a second, that's 875 kilometers. At the same time, 61-year-old Young was never a professional athlete - he ran exclusively as a hobby in between agricultural work.
Cliff ran the marathon in old sneakers, not at all similar to the lightweight shoes of young and professional race participants. Journalists made fun of Young - they say, grandfather, where are you going? The blow won't be enough for you?
Cliff started at a very leisurely pace and immediately fell well behind his rivals. But when other runners stopped to rest and sleep, Young continued to run. As a result, after 5 days he finished first - with an incredible gap of 9 hours from the rest. 
Cliff Young
He explained his endurance by the fact that he was used to running after sheep on the farm all day long. And when he was awarded the prize of 10,000 Australian dollars, Young was very surprised. The farmer said he had no idea they were also paying for it. He split the money with five other participants in the ultramarathon so that they would not be so upset about losing to “grandfather.”
By the way, at the age of 76, Cliff Young wanted to run a personal ultramarathon along the entire coast of the country. But closer to the middle, he had to interrupt the race due to illness. And not his own, but the assistant who was driving behind him in a car.
