Aug 17, 2008 | The True Olympians

Update: The Danes won the gold!

Here’s a story to remember:

Qingdao, China – The 49er skiff is a dinghy boat race that has officially been recognized as an Olympic sport since the 2000 Sydney Olympics. On Sunday, the weather was particularly horrendous – high winds and torrential rain made the seas very choppy, but despite it all, ten teams raced to the finish.. er.. wave. But the Danes were in a bit of a problem – the mast on their skiff snapped shortly before the race began, so they went back to port and rushed to borrow another, and the Croats were gracious enough to pass theirs along – “Here, well, since we’re not racing today, why not give ours to the jolly Danes, eh, what do you think?”.



Det er hvad der sker!

With boats capsizing left and right in the waves, the Danes, despite finishing seventh in the race, stood on top for overall rankings. They would’ve gotten their gold had it not been for complaints rendered against them – not by their competitors, mind you, but by the race measurement committee – that they could not win using another nationalities’ boat.



“Those Croats were mighty nice, eh?”

And so while Jonas Warrer and Martin Kirketerp Ibsen of team Denmark may (or may not) get their gold medals, Petar Cupac (left) and Pavle Kostov (right) from team Croatia may very well just deserve one of their own for their great show of sportsmanship.

See video here.

Top image copyright Clive Mason/Getty Images.