Diego Mentrega showed off his iconic avatar when he gave up his podium spot at the Santander Triathlon last week to a competitor who took a wrong turn with the finish line on the horizon.
Incredible footage of Mintriga’s sacrifices surfaced over the weekend and quickly spread throughout the sporting world.
Britain’s James Tegel had to be flat less than 100 meters from the end of the race as he took a wrong turn towards the spectators inside a fenced area.
However, Mentriga noticed Teagle’s fatal mistake when he crossed him in the last round to the line and stopped himself a few meters from the line to allow Teagle to catch up and cross the line first.
Tegley sped behind Mintrega and shook the hand of his fellow runner before crossing the line a split second before Mintriga.
A split second was the difference between a place on the podium and losing it all with Tigli, who officially took third in the event.
“When I saw how he was wrong, I unconsciously stopped.” “He deserved it,” said the 21-year-old Spaniard, Mentrega, after the race.
He told Eurosport: “When I saw that he had missed the road, I just stopped. James deserved this medal. He didn’t notice the signs or were skewed. I don’t know, but the second time I would have done the same.”
Sporty, elegant spirit has been praised throughout the sporting world.
The Santander Triathlon runner, Javier Gómez Noya, described Mentrega’s show as “the best in history”.
Other international mathematical names have described the verb Mintrega as a definition of sportsmanship.
