Sunday, August 17, 2008

A Chinese fencer gets recognized for sportsmanship

From WSJ:

He is 44, born in India, raised in Hungary, and a former Ohio State fencing champ. Now he is treasurer of the Fair Play Committee, an obscure and ill-funded organization devoted to cataloging instances of athletic self-denial.

It didn't take long for him to catch one. In a furious exchange, Sofia Velikaya, a Russian, lunged at Tan Xue, from China, who immediately stuck her hand in the air: She was acknowledging a Russian score before the referee had a chance to call it. It was as if a baseball player called himself out in a close play at home.

"It's goodwill," said Mr. Sabharwal with satisfaction. "These moments of fair play, they seem like small, common things, but they aren't small and they aren't common."

Tan Xue is well known around these parts, too. It's nice to know she deserves all the good attention and praise she receives.

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