Iuri Leitão refused to take advantage of his rival’s crash in the omnium final and slowed down instead of going for the gold
Portuguese cyclist Iúri Leitão has been awarded the European Fair Play Award in the “Spirit of Fair Play” category, in recognition of his exemplary conduct during the men’s omnium final at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
The honour was conferred by the NGO European Fair Play Movement following a nomination by the Portuguese Sports and Youth Institute (IPDJ).
The award aims to recognise Leitão’s actions on August 8, 2024 at the Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines velodrome, where he was in close contention for gold with France’s Benjamin Thomas. With 25 laps remaining, Thomas suffered a crash that could have given Leitão a decisive advantage. Instead, the Portuguese cyclist chose to slow down, allowing his opponent time to recover and rejoin the race. Despite ultimately finishing with the silver medal, Leitão’s act was widely praised for upholding the spirit of fair competition.
“He was unlucky,” said Leitão after the race. “I feel like it would be unfair for him to lose the gold like that. And I wanted to make sure he’d return to the race and was okay to ‘continue’ our battle. At the end, I tried my luck to win the gold. I think it was for the best and was fair.”
His good deed may have cost him the gold in the omnium final, but just two days later, Leitão and teammate Rui Oliveira secured Portugal’s only gold medal at the Paris 2024 Games, triumphing in the madison.
The fair play award will be presented in Olympia, Greece, on May 19.
