Top 10 Greatest Moments Of Respect In Sports

#10: Justin Gatlin Bows to Usain Bolt

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Usain Bolt is a legend; his name has become synonymous in pop culture when it comes to speed. Unfortunately, as with many athletes, grandfather time catches up with even the best of athletes, as is the case with Bolt. At the 2017 IAAF World Championships, American sprinter and rival Justin Gatlin won his first championship in 12 years, finishing in first place at 9.92 seconds. Bolt surprisingly finished third, coming in behind Christian Coleman at 9.95 seconds for the bronze. But even in victory, Gatlin made sure to pay tribute to the GOAT, bowing to Bolt before the pair hugged it out. It was a great way for Gaitlin to pay his respects to Bolt, who subsequently retired shortly afterwards.

#9: Lebron James Congratulates a Special Olympian

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During a game between the Cleveland Cavaliers and Boston Celtics, special olympian Aaron Miller was honored for winning MVP at a local basketball tournament. Seeing this, and noticing the boy was sporting shoes James designed specifically for children with special needs, he went over to congratulate Miller. The touching interaction went viral, and rightfully so. After the game, James would later seek out Miller and hand him a pair of his sneakers. Miller spoke about the interaction afterwards, describing how LeBron told him how he was an inspiration to him. An awesome and classy move by the king!

At this Men’s Triathlon event in Mexico, competitor Jonny Brownlee was in the lead and set to win the race when he suddenly began to weave on the course. Trailing behind him were his brother, Alistair, and South African Henri Schoeman. Rather than take the lead and win, Alistair instead took the opportunity to put his brother’s arm around him and help carry him to cross the finish line. Although Schoeman came first and ultimately won, the bottom line is that the real winners that day were these two brothers, truly showing that in sports, sometimes there are things that are more important than just winning.

At a women’s college baseball game, Western Oregon University’s Sarah Tucholsky was at the plate. With already one strike, she hit the ball out of center field for her first home run. Unfortunately, as she was running towards first base, she injured her knee. If any teammates assisted her, she would be out. So what happened instead? The opponents came to the rescue. In a truly touching act, Central Washington’s Mallory Holtman and Liz Wallace carried Tucholsky around the field, stopping briefly at each of the bases to ensure her foot would touch them so the home run could officially count and allow her to score. The moment was so revered that the group of girls were awarded “Best Moment” at the 2008 ESPYS.

Isaac Marquez, an MMA superfan who suffers from down syndrome, had always dreamed of being an MMA fighter. During a visit to the Jackson-Wink Academy training facility, he encountered former UFC fighter Diego Sanchez. They both struck up a friendship and when Sanchez learned about Marquez’s goal to fight, he decided to help him out. Not only did he train him, but he also set up a friendly exhibition match between the two. Marquez went on to defeat Sanchez in the first round with an armbar. For helping this man’s dream come true, we think it’s about time he changed his nickname back to “The Dream”.

During this soccer match between Shabab al-Ordon Club and the Arab Orthodox Club, a player wearing a hijab playing for the latter lost possession of the ball and soon after, part of her hair got loose when an opponent’s arm brushed her head. Wearing the Hijab to cover one’s hair is a important custom for many females in the Muslim religion for a variety of reasons. To assist her, members of the opposing team instantly huddled around her to cover her so that she could fix her hijab in private. The gesture went viral and the team was praised for their assistance.

At this quarter final match at the 2018 Brisbane International, tied at the third set, Kyle Edmund suddenly collapsed in pain mid play. His opponent, Grigor Dimitrov, immediately hurdled over the net and ran to check on Edmund. Assisted by an official, he helped Edmund up and walked him to his chair. Fortunately, Edmund ended up being okay, and he would return to the match. Although Dimitrov ended up winning, everyone knows the game’s outcome had nothing to do with why he was deemed a true winner that day.

Little did runners Abbey D’Agostino (now Cooper) and Nikki Hamblin know that they would forever be linked during their Olympic debuts in Rio back in 2016. During the second 5000 meter preliminary heat, Hamblin and D’Agostino both tripped on each other and fell. D’Agostino immediately helped Hamblin get back up. But although Hamblin was okay, the same could not be said for D’Agostino, who was clearly in excruciating pain while running and went to the ground again. Rather than attempt to catch up with the other racers, Hamblin stayed behind to encourage her competitor to continue and helped her back up. D’Agostino not only continued but even went on to finish the race despite having suffered what would later be revealed to be a torn ACL. At the finish line, both embraced each other with a hug.

The highlight of the second round match at the Australian Open in 2020 between Rafael Nadal and Federico Delbonis was not the win by the former, or even his missed breakpoint opportunities, but something else entirely. During the third set of the game, one of the Spaniard’s shots actually hit a ball girl right in the face. The girl barely budged, but that didn’t stop Nadal from checking up on her to see if she was okay. After seeing that she was okay, he planted a small kiss on her cheek for good measure. Nadal demonstrated how he can be the perfect gentleman, while this girl got a memory she’ll never forget. Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions. Stsiapan Papou Carries Amil Gasimov After capturing Gold at the 2015 European Sambo Games, This Belarus Athlete Carried His Opponent Who Was Injured Nicolas Mahut's Son Runs Onto the Court to Console Him After His Loss at the French Open I’m Not Crying, You’re Crying! Opposing Players Give Sendoff to Wayne Gretzky Players From the Pittsburgh Penguins Made Sure To Congratulate Wayne Gretzky in His Final Game Philadelphia Flyers Fans Salute Mario Lemieux Flyers Fans Put The Cross-State Rivalry Behind Them and Honored Mario Lemieux Before His First Retirement Paolo di Canio v Everton The Goalkeeper Got Injured, But Rather Than Score, Paolo di Canio Stopped Play To Ensure That He Received Medical Attention

#1: Luz Long Helps Jesse Owens

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The 1936 Olympics in Berlin were infamous due to German dictator Adolf Hitler using the event to promote his racist agenda. But one aspect of the race will forever be fondly remembered thanks to two people: Jesse Owens and Luz Long. Owens, an African-American, had fouled twice in his bid to qualify for the final long jump event. In a twist that no one could ever anticipate, Long, a German, offered Owens advice on how to adjust his run-up to make the qualifying distance. Owens successfully completed the next jump and he went on to win gold, with Long earning silver. While the gesture was indeed a good show of sportsmanship, it symbolically meant so much more and was truly a remarkable way for Long to stick it to the man.