Opponent's 'classy' act of sportsmanship allows Canadian skater to secure medal

Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil captured a silver medal with the unlikely assistance of his opponent.

Paired against medal favourite Kai Verbij of the Netherlands in the men’s 1000-metre long-track speed-skating event in the Beijing Olympics, Dubreuil rocketed out of the gates during his opening laps, which led to one of the unlikely highlights of this edition of the Olympic Games so far.

Verbij sensed there was a great risk of colliding during one of the final turns and pulled up short, allowing Dubreuil to continue his excellent performance unimpeded in a powerful show of sportsmanship.

“My first 600 meter was okay. Not great, not bad," Verbij said via Eurosport. "Laurent (Dubreuil) was very quick and then you’re just not up there. I was in trouble.

"When I exited the inner lane I saw his higher top speed and knew: I have to get up, otherwise I would ruin his race and I’m not that kind of a—hole.”

Here’s the footage from Dubreuil’s medal-winning lap, where you can see Verbij clearly allowing the Canadian to speed by him uncontested around the 1:30 mark.

The move didn't go unnoticed by the Beijing now-silver medallist Dubreuil.

“I can't say thank you enough to him,” Dubreuil said. “It was a really professional and classy move to do. He’s a friend, so when he gets over it — I’ll give him some time — I’ll thank him for sure.”

The act may even carry some added significance considering this was Dubreuil's sole medal in Beijing. The Canadian finished in fourth place at the men's 500m, his best event, before capturing silver in the 1,000m.

Verbij’s countryman, Tim Krol, won gold on Friday with a time of 1:07.92, Dubreuil came in at 1:08.32, while Norway’s Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen won bronze at 1:08.48.

It’s a bittersweet moment for Verbij, while Dubreuil will doubtless be eternally grateful to be the beneficiary of a life-changing act of sportsmanship.

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