Spanish race winner displays sportsmanship by surrendering victory and prize money to Kenyan runner

Spanish long-distance runner Mohamed Massat displayed a true level of sportsmanship after allowing Kenyan runner Peter Kariuki to take top honours and pocket the hefty prize money during Sunday’s Quixote Half Marathon in Ciudad Real, Spain.

As reported by the Canadian Running Magazine, initially, it appeared that Massat had won the half-marathon with a time of 67:08.

However, he humbly insisted that the true champion should be Kariuki who had finished the race second in a time of 1:07:56.

Kariuki went into the race as the defending champion but encountered an unfortunate mishap during the race where an incorrect turn by race officials led him to the wrong direction making him run an extra km.

Owing to his kind heart, the Moroccan approached race officials and informed them about the time Kariuki had lost due to the unintentional detour.

The Canadian Running Magazine also explained that he went to the finish-line microphone to announce to the crowd that Kariuki was the true winner, sharing the situation with the spectators.

He also declined the approximately Ksh 79, 000 prize money for the winners, generously surrendering it to Kariuki.

Massat pocketed about Ksh 47, 000 for second place and his sportsmanship was heavily embraced on social media with people lauding his generous gesture.

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