When a sporting moment transcends sport

Sport isn’t always just about winning and losing

I couldn’t help but be inspired watching this video this morning. The Brownlee brothers are incredible atheletes, winning Gold and Silver at the Olympics this summer. But watching them in this race yesterday was something else.

(If you have access, this BBC clip is a better one to watch with commentary.)

Winning in sport clearly does matter — let’s not pretend otherwise — but there is more to sport that just winning. And this was a wonderful display of both brotherly love and sportsmanship. And of humanity.

I think the moment I loved most in this clip is right before the line when Alistair, after giving up his own chance of winning the race by helping Jonny get to the line, shoved Jonny over it first so that he got second place. Incredible.

With sport it is easy to get caught up solely in the winning and losing. But the true beauty of sport is in the inspiration it can create. And these moments transcend sport itself, and certainly winning and losing.

It’s ages since I last saw so many of the people I follow on Twitter all sharing the same clip. And most of them aren’t remotely sports people. Even my wife, who has zero interesting in sport, shared it on Facebook!

Let’s make sure our inclination to see sport only through the lens of winning and losing doesn’t blinker us to the joy and inspiration that can come to many who don’t care less about who wins or not.