This Runner Lost the Race But Won the Hearts of People
He defied the win-at-any-cost paradigm of modern life
Sports is a moral undertaking because it requires of participants, and it schools spectators in the appreciation of noble things — courage, grace under pressure, sportsmanship. (George Will, American columnist)
Long-distance runners are a breed apart in the world of sports. They compete fiercely but treat fellow runners not as competitors but as companions on the track who took part in the collective enterprise of covering distance at record time.
They stretch the limits of physical endurance, but not the limits of decency and fairness.
The much-maligned social media, while creating echo chambers of hate and prejudice, has also the remarkable ability to resurrect and publicize acts of goodness that happened many years ago.
The social media is abuzz with the remarkable story of an athlete purposefully losing a race that he could have won that occurred about eight years ago.
In December 2012, Spanish long-distance runner Ivan Fernandez Anaya performed one of the greatest acts of sportsmanship in international sports. While participating in the Burlada Cross race in the city of Navarra. in Spain, Anaya was trailing Olympic bronze medallist Abel Mutai of Kenya. The Kenyan runner could not follow the Spanish signage. He stopped running during the last lap, thinking he had reached the finishing line. Anaya was closed behind the Kenyan.
He could have sprinted past the Kenyan and won the race. But he realized that the Kenyan had made a mistake and shouted at him in Spanish to run. Since the Kenyan could not understand Spanish, Anaya used hand gestures and guided him to the finishing line.
The Spanish hero later said,
“I didn’t deserve to win it. 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. As soon as I saw he was stopping, I knew I wasn’t going to pass him.”
Ivan’s coach, Martin Fiz, however, was not impressed by his sportsmanship. According to him,
“the gesture has made him a better person but not a better athlete. He has wasted an occasion. Winning always makes you more of an athlete. You have to go out to win.”
Ivan would not buy this argument. When a reporter asked him why he squandered a winning opportunity, he said,
“but what would be the merit of my victory? What would be the honour of that medal? What would but my mom think of that? Would my country have felt proud?”.
Ivan Fernandez Anaya lost the race but won the hearts of millions of people by sending out a loud message that fairness should underpin success. Winning by taking advantage of an opponent’s mistake diminishes the victor’s moral quotient.
It is heartening that honesty and generosity are not outdated values, as practitioners of realpolitik would make us believe.
Ivan has redeemed our hope in humanity’s capacity for sacrifice, honesty, and kindness in a world that believes the end justifies the means.
May his tribe increase.
Thanks for reading!
