20/08/2026
He was winning the race. He stopped anyway.
At the 2019 SEA Games, Filipino surfer Roger Casugay was leading his longboard semifinal, a clear path to gold, when his Indonesian rival's leash snapped in dangerous, typhoon-driven waves. He paddled back mid-heat and got the rival safely to shore on his own board. Then he won the rematch, advanced, and took gold in the final anyway. He later became the first Filipino to win the Pierre de Coubertin Fair Play Award.
Where athletes are people.
SOURCE: PHILSTAR, WORLD SURF LEAGUE
