During a race in the one man Fin Class sailing competition, Larry Lemieux of Canada was running in second place and was well on his way to a medal ceremony. Suddenly, the sailor spotted Joseph Chan of Singapore, who was competing in a different race, flailing in turbulent water well away from his capsized boat. Chan had been thrown from his small craft and was in danger of drowning in the rough seas.
Lemieux immediately veered off course, sacrificing his chance of winning a medal and ferried Chan back to his overturned boat. Chan and his team mate were then picked up by a rescue boat. Officially, Lemieux finished 11th place in the event but International Olympic Committee President Juan Antonio Samaranch later recognised his act by awarding him the Pierre de Coubertin medal for sportsmanship.
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At the most recent Winter Olympiad, Canadian Sarah Renner was leading her team in the gruelling cross country team sprint ski race when her left ski pole snapped. She pushed on, but it seemed hopeless. On an uphill slope, several skiers passed her.
Then something truly extraordinary happened. An unknown man stepped forward from the side of the course and handed Renner another ski pole. She immediately got back in the race and with a mighty effort, managed to make up some of the lost time. In the end, it was enough to capture the silver medal for Canada.
It was not until after the race that Renner learnt the identity of her benefactor. He turned out to be Bjoernar Haakensmoen, the coach of the Norwegian team who finished fourth. Haakensmoen immediately became a hero in Canada. One Montreal newspaper ran a one-word banner headline simply proclaiming, TAKK the Norwegian word for thank you.
Haakensmoen didn't understand all the attention. "The Olympic spirit is the way we try to follow. If you win but don't help somebody when you should have, what win is that?"
(Reader's Digest, Aug 2008)
Like Sarah commented, at times I do ponder what will I do if I ever find myself in such a situation. Olympics is only once in 4 years, medical school is once in a lifetime. Yes, it is said that doctors work in a team. Honestly speaking, I'm not the smartest person around lar, but if say I had worked so hard for something (eg of gold medal standard), the clerking, the hard work, and put up a good impression, how will I respond if someone else who just somehow knows much much more than me just effortlessly rattled off the answers and won praises. Jealous? Annoyed? Why some people so smart one?? If I get my hands on some much coveted handouts / notes / extra sessions, how? Can't deny that the tendency to think along the selfish lines of "Aiya he/she so smart and doing better than me dy, no need to bother lar sharing a copy with them, or You are selfish and manipulate things to cause me so much trouble, that even if you die that's your problem lar." is always there. Sigh..
Guess there is a need to appreciate that at the end of the day, it's not about me. And it's a lesson I'm still learning..
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