Top 10 Sportsmanship Moments 2018 (part 2 of 2 ie the 5 Best Moments)

BBC Radio London broadcasted our Top 10 Moments – you can hear it here & and also see the photos and written stories below (please note there is a 4 second delay at the start).

Part 1 covered the 10th best to the 6th best sportsmanship moments from 2018. Part 2 covers the Top 5 moments including the number 1 Sportsmanship moment from 2018.

5th Place Athletics: Exhausted Aussies Wait For Lesotho’s Last Place Runner

The Commonwealth Games in the Gold Coast produced a moment of sportsmanship – which many missed if you didn’t watch until way after the end of the 10k women’s race.

Long after Stelle Chesang the Ugandan star, won gold & long after most of the other competitors had left the track, the three exhausted Australian runners Eloise Wellings, Madeline Hills and Celia Sullohern stayed on the track …waiting … some 3 minutes for the final runner, Lesotho’s, Lineo Chaka, to finally cross the line.

The 3 Australian athletes applauded & congratulated her on completion of one of the most physically demanding events in sport.  Out of courtesy and respect, they waited for the last runner, the lone runner to complete the race.

A golden moment of sportsmanship from the Gold Coast of Australia.

 

4th Place GOLF: European Captain Hugs American Tiger

2018 was a Ryder Cup year (every two years) full of expectation, tension and excitement

 

You might recall that Tiger Woods had been struggling with his game for some time but just before the Ryder Cup kicked off in September, he finally won his first competition in 5 years. Tiger was back!

The Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup

So although the newly revived Tiger posed a great threat to Europe, when Tiger Woods stepped onto the 1st tee, Europe’s captain, Thomas Bjørn (Denmark), gave Tiger a big bear hug, a shake of the hand and a welcome to a wonderful battle of sport.

 

3rd Place Motor Racing: “I lost my legs but not my daredevil spirit”

When it comes to bravery and fighting spirit, this quote from 19 year old Billy Monger says it all:   “I lost my legs but not my daredevil spirit”.

19 year old Billy Monger aka Billy Whizz

Billy Monger, F4 racing driver, had both his legs amputated after an horrendous crash during a Formula 4 race at Donington Park in April 2017.

He returned to racing in March 2018 – the British Formula 3 Championship – less than a year after the accident.

‘Billy Whizz’ then claimed his maiden British F3 pole position on his return to Donington Park in September. He also finished on the podium in 3rd place.

So if you things go wrong for you – think of 19 year old Billy Monger’s words:

“I lost my legs but not my daredevil spirit”

 

 

2nd Place BOXING:  This Man Is The Epitome of Great Sportsmanship

Anthony Joshua is a British Heavyweight boxer who holds four world heavyweight titles. He is also an absolute gentleman and an icon of sportsmanship. Here’s why…..

Anthony Joshua enters the defeated Russian, Alexander Povetkin dressing room

After his last fight, his opponent Russian, Alexander Povetkin, sat slumped in his dressing room, when there was knock on the door.

The Russian fighter looked up and saw Joshua, walk in.  Joshua bowed to the Russian, and said “Respect! You are a great boxer”.

Joshua then said that he’d like to visit Russia. Povetkin smiled through his bruised and battered face and invitingly welcomed him by saying “anytime”.

One other extraordinary thing that happened during this fight was both fighters tapped gloves at the start & end of each round. Not everyone agrees with this – but one thing we do agree on is that there was great respect between these two fighters.

Anthony Joshua always shows great respect for opponents, before, during and after each fight. Joshua is an icon of great sportsmanship.

 

1st Place Football: An Open Letter Dripping With Kindness Remembering Ray Wilkins

A beautiful story, in fact, an open letter written by Nigel Quashie about Ray Wilkins who died 4th April 2018.

If you recall Ray Wilkins won 84 caps for England and captained his country 10 times. He also captained Chelsea at the tender age of 18. He played for Man U, Chelsea, AC Milan, Glasgow Rangers and QPR as a player-manager, a rare thing to see these days.

https://youtu.be/qiKB1Cj0v7I

Nigel Quashie played 300+ matches in professional leagues notably with QPR, Notts Forest, West Brom, Portsmouth, Southampton West Ham and then came back to QPR. He also played for Scotland. He was a lovely midfield player.  He now runs his own academy IPDA.

When Ray Wilkins died this year, Nigel Quashie wrote an open message to Ray Wilkins and his family which he posted instagram Nigel.Quashie. Here it is:

I will always be proud to say how lucky I am to have been coached, managed and to even meet you, if it wasn’t for you I would never have started my career playing football.

I will never forget going to Manchester United as a YTS trainee to do all the kit and boots in the changing room for the first team squad [Aug 1995]. 1 hour 30 minutes before kick-off you name the team and I was in it and that’s how my debut went,  I didn’t even get to think about it because all you said was you’re number 18, here are your boots and shin pads, just go out and play, have fun, and treat it like your over the park with your mates.

My mum never had a mobile phone back then because we couldn’t afford anything like that and everything went through her work or home phone.

I asked you after the game if I could call home to speak to her, you said ‘use my mobile and call this number’, it was my mum on the other end of the line and she said she was outside by the away team bus.

I went outside to see her I asked how did you get here because I knew she couldn’t afford it. She told me Ray has got the club to pay for her train ticket to come to the game and then told me that Ray got the club to give us our first mobile phone in life during the week, and he wanted to surprise me knowing I was making my debut.

I was given a chance by Ray Wilkins, one of the legends of the game and to this day you are the first person I mention when it comes to football and that will never change.

You will be missed so much, not just in the football world but as a real human being with such class. Thanks for everything and my thoughts go to all the family, sleep well, Sir Ray Wilkins.

Nigel Quashie’s Instagram Message about Ray Wilkins

 

Part 1 contains another 5 great stories from 2018 including a stunning photograph capturing another footballing moment of magic from Colombian & Mexican fans to an Egyptian Fan.

You can listen to these stories on the BBC radio interview here  (please note there is a 7 second delay at the start).

See how these compare to Top 10 Moments Of Sportsmanship 2017  or

Top 10 Moments of Sportsmanship 2016

If you like these stories – join us and spread the word – share these stories and become an ambassador (looks great on your CV and Linkedin Page).

8 thoughts on “Top 10 Sportsmanship Moments 2018 (part 2 of 2 ie the 5 Best Moments)”

  1. Dear PR for me the star of the show was the 3 Auzzi runners waiting for Chaka to finish. Cameras would be following the victors lap of honor, where the peer respect was demonstrated by fellow athletes.
    Billie Jean has always been my inspiration .
    Did Anthony ever take up the invitation to visit Russia?
    Keep up the great work – sportsmanship should be what motivates us, winning the right way is the sweetest.

    Reply
    • Thanks Phil – pls call me Paul! Yes the respect from peers says an awful lot. I think Anthony Joshua’s suggestion re visiting Russia was when he hangs up his gloves. And when he does, he will be remembered fondly for a long long time.

      Reply
  2. Thx Larry – yes Nigel Quashie story is really beautiful. I have heard another story about Ray Wilkins befriending a homeless guy outside Chelsea and that was the moment the guy started to change his life – is now happily married, working with a home…

    Reply
  3. Number 1 is very touching and really shows the class of the gentleman of football Sir Ray Wilkins. Lovely message from Nigel! ⚪️

    Reply
  4. What a brilliant array of stories to inspire both young and old sport enthusiasts. Number one really was something special! Looking forward to reading more stories throughout the year.

    Reply

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