Great Sportsmanship by Grenada 400m-er (Kirani James)

This was quite cool, but if I were Oscar I would have wanted to keep my bib from my historic Olympic race!

At first, I thought the same thing.  But James did win the gold, making that bib all that more valuable...  And I'm sure Pestoris had several others, including his number from the other heats.  Not sure if they only give you one or not.

True.  I guess he probably had his bib from his very first heat...which would be the MOST historic bib.  And maybe bibs don't mean as much to people when they've done hundreds of races....I mean, I have maybe done dozens of races and I keep all my bibs....but maybe after awhile that need to have your bib fades.

But I've never heard of this bib trading tradition?  Anyone know if this is truly HUGE in track and field?

Not as common, but swapping jersey's after a soccer match is VERY common and done all the time.  I'm sure it's spillover from that.

That was an amazing thing to see.  I never knew they did that before and to know it was a sign of respect for Pistorous, even though he was last place in that final. was awesome sportsmanship. 

I never heard of James before....nor really Pistorous until the legal battle to enter in Olympics as opposed to Paralympics.....but these men are ones to keep watching. 

If he was really smart, James would have asked Pistorious to swap shoes.  I'm sure Pistorious' "shoes" are far more valuable. 

But yes, James was a great story.

This one is pretty awesome after the Triathlon finish.

http://l2.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/7NKVLOKmNTf2VGveGsbukQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7Zmk9aW5zZXQ7aD0yOTE7cT04NTt3PTUxMg--/http://media.zenfs.com/en_us/News/Reuters/2012-08-07T122916Z_1175848656_LM2E8870YOHP9_RTRMADP_3_OLY-TRIA-TRMTRI-TRM001101.JPG

Not very Sportsmanlike if you ask me.

His post-race interview was pure class. 

I know that NBC is making editorial choices that manipulate the Olympics into their narrative reality show mentality (hmmm, this is why I got sucked into Kona coverage too).... but darn if I didn't shed a tear watching the ex-pat Grenadans rejoicing in London over their nation's first EVER Olympic medal in ANYTHING. 

What James did was awesome.. I have never heard of trading bibs after a race, but we did it when I played rugby sometimes and when I was in Iraq we would exchange name tapes with some of the Iraqi Army guys who earned our respect or did something that saved our butts and vice versa. For about two weeks I wore a name tape that read Husayn and nobody said a thing to me because of what he had done for me. I know of other units that would trade their unit patches in mass. I guess trading bibs, name tapes, patches, jerseys is a universal sign of respect. My hat is off to James who really showed what the Olympics should be about.

The bib trade was great, but James' interview after his win in that race was just awesome.  Bravo Mr. James!

Maybe he did it there so Pestoris got the show of respect on the world stage instead of in the hallways of the stadium?

Yep

Yet people on this forum were criticizing the russian gymnast, Mustafina, for smiling when Gabby Douglas screwed the pooch. 

I think it is pretty naive to think that all athletes are great people 100% of the time. Sure we might be all swept up in the Olympics, but this is regular life for these athletes. Just like the general population, you are going to have a wide range of people reacting in a wide range of behaviors.

So let's look at it this way... Pistorius comes in nearly dead last in the Semi, and the guy that is favored coasted to the finals and displays some respect for him.

Yet Pistorius beat 7 other people in the quarters to advance. Yet no PDAs from them. It doesn't mean anything, or take away from Kirani, it's just a wide range of reactions.

Most athletes are type A people that are driven, competitive, and agressive. That's how they got where they are at. Most are not there to make friends and win a popularity contest. And no, that is not the same thing as being a jerk. There is a line.

i definitely cried at that room full of grenadans too!  but i cry at everything olympics...