RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) — In a world in turmoil, one thing never changes: the Olympic sport of losing gracefully.
With a crisp, assured landing of his final somersault off the parallel bars, Oleg Verniaiev bumped Danell Leyva out of the gold-medal spot. Did the American curse? Turn his back? Roll his eyes in disgust? No. He firmly shook the Ukrainian's chalk-covered hand, flashed a broad smile and embraced him.
"He didn't take anything away from me," Leyva said. "He deserved that medal more than anything."
With a hand on her shoulder and the words "Get up, get up, we have to finish this," Abbey D'Agostino persuaded Nikki Hamblin not to quit when they tripped over each other and hit the deck hard in qualifying of the women's 5,000-meters.