Olympian gives medal to rival

As a coach, this story caught my eye. It is an interesting examination of sportsmanship and grace.

In this story from the Associated Press, American sprinter Shawn Crawford gave the silver medal he won (by default) in Beijing to Dutch sprinter Churandy Martina, who had been disqualified from the race for a lane violation.

Basically, Crawford felt that lane violation or not, he had been fairly beaten, and thus, he gave the medal up.

Now, it does bring up an interesting debate. On the one hand, it could clearly be argued that Crawford deserved the medal. He competed within the rules. Does giving the medal to a competitor that did not win while sticking to the rules erode the spirit of true competition?

On the other hand, how can you fault an athlete who feels that a he or she was beaten by a better person on a particular day?

Food for thought, I guess. I think Crawford's intentions were honorable, so I tip my hat to him.