Daniel Simiu’s act of sportsmanship earns him nomination for International Fair Play Award

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ATHLETICS Daniel Simiu’s act of sportsmanship earns him nomination for International Fair Play Award

Joel Omotto 21:00 - 30.10.2023

Daniel Simiu allowed compatriot Sabastian Sawe to overtake him and win the Half Marathon at the World Road Running Championships, a gesture that could now win him an award

World 10,000m silver medallist Daniel Simiu’s gesture of sportsmanship during the World Road Running Championships has earned him a nomination for the World Athletics International Fair Play Award.

Simiu allowed compatriot Sabastian Sawe win the Half Marathon at the World Road Running Championships in Riga, Latvia early this month to the astonishment of those watching.

As they approached the final stretch, Simiu was seen making a gesture and smiling at Sawe who passed him and claimed victory in the race.

Sawe clocked 59:10 ahead of compatriots Simiu (59:14) and Samwel Nyamai Mailu (59:19) who finished second and third respectively.

Simiu noted that he willingly let Sawe take top honours in the race since he was yet to win any global title.

“It’s not that I was not strong…I wanted to tell the world that there are good people out there and it’s not always about winning,” Simiu later disclosed.

"I wanted Sawe to win because I have been on the world stage so I wanted him to win and I wanted to send a message to the world that there is humanity.”

Now, that act of humility could win Simiu the International Fair Play Award if all goes well with fans invited to vote for their favourite moment via World Athletics’ social media platforms.

These votes will be combined with the votes from the jury to determine three finalists for the Fair Play Award before the finalists are announced on November 7.

Simiu’s moment is among six acts of sportsmanship that have been nominated for the award.

After securing silver in the women’s 10,000m at the World Athletics Championships Budapest, Ethiopia’s Letesenbet Gidey went back to comfort Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan after Hassan’s dramatic fall on the home straight.

After her aforementioned fall while leading the 10,000m final at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23, Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan was gracious in defeat and went on to claim 5000m silver and 1500m bronze which also earned her the nomination.

Meanwhile, after their respective gold and bronze medal wins in the women’s 200m final, Jamaica’s Shericka Jackson and USA’s Sha’Carri Richardson spontaneously embraced at the World Athletics Championships Budapest 23 while Australia’s Nina Kennedy and USA’s Katie Moon decided to share gold in the pole vault at the World Athletics Championships after their attempts at 4.95m still couldn’t separate them.

The other moment involved Britain’s Jessica Warner-Judd. After finishing eighth in the 10,000m final at the World Athletics Championships, Warner-Judd was the only athlete to wait and shake hands with the final placed runner who completed the event some distance behind the rest of the field.

The winner of the award will be revealed on World Athletics’ platforms in the lead up to the World Athletics Awards in Monaco on December 11.

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