Race winner surrenders victory and prize money to second-place finisher

On Sunday, Moroccan distance runner Mohamed Massat made headlines with an incredible display of sportsmanship at the 2023 Quixote Half Marathon in Ciudad Real, Spain. Initially, it appeared that Massat had won the half-marathon with a time of 67:08. However, he humbly insisted that the true champion should be Kenya’s Peter Kariuki, who finished in second place.

Kariuki, the defending champion from last year’s marathon, encountered an unfortunate mishap during the race. An incorrect turn by race officials led him in the wrong direction with five kilometres to go, causing him to run an extra kilometre. Consequently, he finished the race in second place, 48 seconds behind Massat, with a time of 1:07:56.

Massat immediately approached race officials and informed them about the time Kariuki had lost due to the unintentional detour. He also took to the finish-line microphone to announce to the crowd that Kariuki was the true winner, sharing the situation with the spectators.

Local news indicated that Massat believed it was the right thing to do, as he wouldn’t have felt good about winning under such accidental circumstances. He also declined the 500 euros first-place prize money, generously surrendering it to Kariuki.

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Massat still walked away with 300 euros for second place, and we are confident that his selfless act and sportsmanship will be long remembered. Social media was flooded with congratulatory messages for his remarkable gesture and race officials also praised his fair play.