Prep runner carries foe to finish line

[Are_grits_groceries]

When distance runner Arden McMath (left), collapsed 20 meters from the end of the 3,200 race at the Ohio Division III girls state meet, fellow runner Meghan Vogel helped carry her to the finish line.

Meghan Vogel doesn't understand what all the fuss is about.
Vogel, a junior runner for West Liberty-Salem High School (West Liberty, Ohio), won the 1,600-meter title Saturday at the Division III girls state meet at Jesse Owens Stadium in Columbus. But it's what she did in her next race that was most remarkable.

With about 20 meters to go in the 3,200, Arden McMath, a sophomore from Arlington High School, collapsed in front of Vogel. Rather than run by her, Vogel helped McMath to her feet and carried her across the finish line, making sure to keep McMath ahead of her.

"Any girl on the track would have done the same for me," Vogel said Monday.

But Vogel's gesture resonated with the thousands of spectators who witnessed it, as well as with the thousands more who have read about the story or seen video of the race's finish.
<snip>
more:
http://espn.go.com/high-school/track-and-xc/story/_/id/8010251/high-school-runner-carries-fallen-opponent-finish-line

Sportsmanship!
This should be one reason you play the game.

[EC]

1. Good Girl

Her parents did a really good job in raising her and teaching her right from wrong. Good values.

[11 Bravo]

2. I wonder, will the "What is this fucking sports thread doing in GD" crew show up to shit on this?

[Uncle Joe]

3. Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, grits.

[yesphan]

4. Great story.

Reminds me of this one from 2008.

http://blog.oregonlive.com/breakingnews/2008/04/the_best_tale_of_sportsmanship.html

[renate]

14. that's another beautiful one

I'm not usually a big fan of athletics because the "winning is everything" metric seems to have superceded the old-fashioned idea of sportsmanship... but stories like these are truly inspiring in a way that would be hard to duplicate in any other situation, because of the opposing-teams-come-together thing.

[freshwest]

20. +1

[progressoid]

34. Wow.

[aikoaiko]

5. When I ran track in HS, both runners would have disqualified for that.

[TBF]

11. Yup - and that is what is wrong with this country.

nt

[Peregrine]

30. No--this shows the greatness

She did this even though she knew she could be DQed. That is altruism.

Reminds me of a girl's softball game a few years back. One of the girls never had hit a HR, and this would be her last chance. She did it, put it over the fence But rounding first she blew out her knee. If she didn't round the bases, she'd be called out and if she got help from her teammates, she, also be called out. The opposing team picked he up and took her around the bases and thus lost the game. Altruism doesn't come when you have nothing to lose. It comes when you do have something to lose

[TBF]

32. Sustaining the myths ...

no matter what the cost. People do not have to be "losing" something in order to be recognized as kind.

[mathematic]

36. You still get DQ'd for this sort of thing.

Race directors decided against DQs, likely because finishing last & 2nd to last has no impact on the meet or race.

[maxrandb]

6. Great story, and Limbaugh talked about it yesterday

Of course, his take on it was that it's "an example of how liberalism and progressive ideals make us week"

No shit! He took this great story and tried to turn it into an example of the girl's weakness.



http://www.democraticunderground.com/1002763452

[lpbk2713]

8. A preemptive smear by OxyRush.

It's apparent to even a dipshit OxyWasted asshole like Limbaugh that Meghan will never be a registered rethuglican.

[maxrandb]

10. The Repukes don't only have a war on women

they have a war on Empathy

war on Kindness

war on Compassion

war on Humanity

war on Humility

war on Selflessness

but it all adds up to a "War on Common Sense"

Wonder what Rush thinks of all those combat soldiers who refuse to leave their wounded comrades behind. Are they making us "weaker"?

[DearAbby]

17. +1

well said.

[TBF]

12. That is the difference between Rush and people who are humane -

we recognize a warm-hearted person when we see her & we think her actions are heroic. He couldn't care less about the girl who collapsed, and would cut off her medical insurance to boot.

[maxrandb]

7. One of my favorite leaders in the Navy used to say

"there is a right thing to do and a correct thing to do, and they aren't always the same"

[spanone]

9. true sportsmanship...and a good heart.

[Woody Woodpecker]

13. The officials are classy too...

Normally, helping another runner is an automatic DQ, but they decided to leave it as is, with 14th and 15th place finish respectively.

[FailureToCommunicate]

15. She has a good heart and smart head:"It's strange to have people telling me

...that this was such a powerful act of kindness and using words like 'humanity.' It's weird. When I hear words like that I think of Harriet Tubman and saving people's lives. I don't consider myself a hero. I just did what I knew was right and what I was supposed to do."

Sounds like a great kid!


(Too bad she's appearing on Fox and Friends)

[riderinthestorm]

18. I think its brilliant she's appearing on Fox, maybe she can shame those who watch it

by setting such a wonderful example of truly "lifting up" your fellow human being and literally carrying them over the finish line so both are winners.

Its likely that Fox viewers won't even understand what they're seeing but its great she's going there.

[lpbk2713]

16. Video here --->

Link: http://blogs.orlandosentinel.com/fitness_exercise_health/2012/06/state-champion-shows-sportsmanship-lives-on.html


Notice how Meghan shoves Arden in front at the finish line.

That kind of class brings tears to my eyes.

[HopeHoops]

19. Reminds me of the first "Cars" movie.

[abelenkpe]

25. Yep :) nt

[HopeHoops]

28. I haven't seen the second one yet, but I heard it was good.

That isn't the first time I've seen such a story. There was one a year or so ago involving a race with women who had those ski-like running feet (amputees) and one of them took a fall and another stopped to help. Competition isn't always about winning, sometimes it's about putting the moral thing ahead of your personal goals.

[WCGreen]

21. Man this generation is something else...

I see so much more depth in the kids these days...

They aren't motivated, it seems, by money and always winning.

Maybe this country has finally changed...

I know that sounds simplistic but it just has a good feel. The acceptance of people who are different, helping people out...

[lumberjack_jeff]

22. The point of a footrace is to finish under your own power.

The girl who finished on her own behind her deserves credit too.

I suspect the runner was officially DNF because of the intervention.

[Woody Woodpecker]

24. Not in this case.

From my article reading - the officials let it stand - no DNF's for both.

[HopeHoops]

29. It has nothing to do with who placed where. It was the right thing to do.

That's especially true when it is your opponent you are helping. Some things that should be instinctive often are not, but this is a case where it worked. That's what makes us a society instead of self-serving monsters (Rmoney excluded, mind you). Hell, even early raptors worked together for a mutual meal. Too much of our world is based on "me, me, me, and oh, me."

[ErikJ]

23. But what if the girl collapsed from heart problem

I hate to be Debbie Downer but but what if the girl collapsed from heart problem
and carrying her not only delayed care but made whatever it was worse?
Maybe the smartest thing to do was to pull her off the track out of harms way and start aid. I think the horizontal position is best for a person that passes out.

Unfortunately in today's world if the girl made things worse by her heroism the girl would probably get sued.

But, I ran track and I probably wouldve kept running like most guy track runners I know, so I applaud her.

[Curmudgeoness]

26. Oh, no, I'm leaking!

There are too many times when I totally lose faith in humanity. And then something like this happens and faith returns (at least for a little while until someone shits on it).

That was really heroic!

[pnwmom]

27. Boys might need sports to teach sportsmanship, but most girls are already good at that.

I remember the difference between watching 6th grade girls play basketball and 6th grade boys.

The girls already knew how to be good sportsmen -- they were excessively polite. They would stop and apologize if they accidentally bumped each other. They needed to learn to allow themselves to be more aggressive.

With the boys, it was the opposite. They had to learn to channel their aggression and to play within the rules -- to be better sportsmen.

I know these are just generalizations, so take it with a grain of salt -- but I think it's true!

[lumberjack_jeff]

31. Sportsmanship means something else to boys.

Boys can encourage one another without literally carrying them. In fact, a boy carried across the finish line by a stronger/faster kid would probably drop the sport.

Yeah, I guess I'm a curmudgeon. To me, sportsmanship means running the race as fast as you can, then encouraging the runners behind you to finish as fast as they can. Sometimes that means "pick yourself up and finish, even if you have to walk".

In HS I was once disqualified from a particularly tough race when a much faster friend jogged back an eighth-mile or so to pace and shout encouragement to me from about 20 feet away... off the racecourse.

[mathematic]

37. They're pretty terrible generalizations.

From a boys 800m race last weekend:
http://espn.go.com/blog/high-school/track-and-xc/post/_/id/3739/sork-dickson-crash-washington-800-record

Marcus Dickson, the favorite and best mid-distance runner in WA, stated before the race his goal was to break the WA state record. He beat the old record, but came in 2nd place to Tanner Sork who improved his best time by over 4 seconds (an amazing improvement at this level for this distance). Sork's time was the fastest by a HS boy in the nation this year.

Here's Dickson's quote after the race:
"With 200 left he's still on me and I'm like 'No way!'" Dickson said. "Then he passes me and he made me feel slow. I'm really proud of Tanner. I knew who he was since junior year. He got really good ... five minutes ago."

That's basically a textbook example of good sportsmanship. He praises the winner and acknowledges the tremendous breakthrough the winner made.

Ironically, the Vogel example seems to violate your definition of sportsmanship... when she helped the runner finish the race she violated the rules and subjected herself and her competitor to disqualifications. The runners didn't get DQ'd, at the race officials' discretion. But be sure that if they were finishing in places other than "last" and "second to last" they'd be DQ'd.

[pnwmom]

39. This instance supports the sociological studies showing that

girls are more willing to break a rule in order to perform an act of kindness. And that men and women have different theories of justice.

[ZombieHorde]

33. Great story, but shouldn't have a medic ran out and helped?

Are there no medics at school sporting events?

[Habibi]

35. I hope she ends up in a leadership position somewhere, and doesn't lose her idealism.

[AsahinaKimi]

38. lovely story...

well done!

[BlueIris]

40. Nice. nt

[obamanut2012]

41. Excellent story!

Gotta love runners.