Even though the Olympics somehow manage to bring out the most inner patriotism and competitiveness of all of us who are watching, the Olympians on the other hand, show us a softer more empathetic side of them. 

While most of them are competing against one another, we get to see how friendly and supportive they are of one another. Here are a few moments in Olympics History that portray pure sportsmanship:

 1. DIY Medals of Friendship

In the 1936 Belin Olympics, Shuhei Nishida and Sueo Oe both Japanese pole vault competitors competed in a jump-off for the silver medal. They both finished at the same height, but Nishida get the silver medal as she had fewer misses than Oe.

After returning home, they cute their gold and bronze medals in half and combined them, making two new medals, half of silver and half of gold – the medals of Friendship. 

 2. Giving Up 2nd Place to Save Lives

In the 1988 Seoul Olympics, Lawrence Lemieux a Canadian sailor gave up his 2nd place position and deviated his course to save two fellow sailors. During the race, harsh winds had caused Joseph Chan and Siew Shaw of Singapore to capsize, throwing them into the water. 

Lemieux saw this and turned around to save them. He returned to the race but finished in 22nd place. He was given the points from the race he would have earned for a second-place finish and finished 11th overall. 

He was awarded the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship from the IOC for his actions.

3. A Father Will Always Be a father

In the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, Britain’s Derek Redmond tore his hamstring near the end of his 400-meter semi-final race. He was still determined to finish the race and continued the race while hobbling down the track in pain. 

His father who couldn’t bare seeing his son in pain, rushed down the stand through all the spectators, fans and security to help his son. Derek managed to complete the race with his father supporting him, however, he was disqualified for receiving assistance.

To honour this moment, Derek’s father was a torchbearer for the 2012 London Games. The video will bring tears to your eyes. 

4. The Rightful Runner Up 

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Shawn Crawford and American sprinter finished at 4th place behind Churandy Martina of the Netherlands Antilles and American Wallace Spearmon. Later, Spearmon and Martina were disqualified after it discovered that they had stepped on their lane lines during the race. 

After the games, Martina received a package from Crawford containing the silver medal and a note that said, "I know this won't replace the moment, but I want you to have this, because I believe it's rightfully yours!"

5. Boat Lending

In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, the leaders of the sailing event Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen from Denmark, were in danger of being stranded when the mast of their skiff broke before the 10-boat final.

Kostov and Cupac of Croatia who didn’t qualify for the final of the men's 49er skiff class let the Danes use their boat instead. At the end of the event, Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen won the gold medal while the Croatians and their trainer received the Pierre de Coubertin medal.

6. It’s Not About Beating Your Rival

In the women’s 5000 meters race at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand stumbled and fell over tripping Abbey D'Agostino of the United States who was behind her. 

Instead of trying to continue the race immediately, D'Agostino helped Hamblin up saying to her “Get up, get up! We have to finish! This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this."

They both managed to finish the race even though they were very behind the rest of the field.