The MC then said – said: “Thank you Rafa Nadal – who leaves here a winner.”

The champion, Serbia’s Novak Djokovic then spoke: “Rafa you are one of the best players ever and on tour. We made history tonight. Unfortunately there couldn’t be two winners tonight but I wish you all the best for this season and I hope that we have many more matches like this, many more finals.”
Then both ushered each other to go first when stepping down off the podium.

“Two charming speeches” said the BBC.

“Two truly Great Sportsmanship Ambassadors”  says The Great Sportsmanship Programme.

http://www.greatmomentsofsportsmanship.com/about-2/

It’s 2012 and here comes the London Oympics, but what about Olympism – the reason  the Olympics exist? Olympism was founded by the ancient Greeks. They actively encouraged citizens to develop all of their physical, moral, intellectual, cultural and artistic qualities.

The Olympic Games celebrated this with the Olympic Games festival involving athletes, artists and scholars from different cultural fields. Sport, art, educational and cultural activities were blended.

Modern Olympism
The modern Olympic Movement was started in 1894 by Frenchman Pierre de Coubertin.  He resurrected the ancient Greek ideals and gave them to the rest of the world when he staged the first ‘modern’ Olympic Games  in 1896 in Greece’s  newly reconstructed Panathenean Stadium (originally created in 330BC).

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Olympism blends sport with culture and education, and most importantly, Olympism promotes a peaceful way of life which uses ‘sport to promote the balanced development of people as an essential step in building a peaceful society that places a high value on human dignity’.  In fact the Olympic Movement believes ‘sport is an invaluable means of

• educating people,
• cultivating aesthetic and
• moral values,
• fostering friendships
• among young people, and
• bringing people from different nations closer together.’

[See ‘What is the role of Sport in The Olympics? for more.] This is what sportsmanship is all about – morale values (respect, fair play, honesty) and fostering friendship  whilst competing.

So hopefully, we’ll see some true Olympism (sportsmanship) in London Olympics 2012 just like we did in 1908 (Queen Alexander), 1932 (Judy Guinness, fencing), 1936 (Karl Lutz Long, long jump), 1952 (Zatopek, 5k & 10k runner), 1956 (Takhti, wrestler), 1960 (Rudolph, sprinter), 1968 (Akhwari, marathon), 1976 (Fujimoto, gymnast), 1988 (Lemieux, sailing) 1992 (Derek Redmond, 400m), 1994 (Jensen & Koss, speed skaters), 2004 (Cordeiro de Lima, marathon), 2006 (Hakensmoen, Ski-ing), 2008 (Junquan, swimmer). Full stories in the Great Moments Of Sportsmanship eBook (& printed book). Free Sportsmanship Workbook & Tutor’s Guide available for schools also.

India’s Rohan Bopanna and Pakistan’s Aisam-Ul-Haq Qureshi say that “If we can be friends, so can our countries”. They say it is “the beauty of sport”. They are vibrant “we are trying to give a message of peace to people of India and Pakistan.”

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since 1947. "It is the beauty of sport that it’s above culture, politics and religion," says Qureshi. "It feels very good to see the Indian fans taking autographs from me and Pakistani fans taking Rohan’s autographs. Rohan always points out that even if we change the minds of 3% or 4% of people, it’s worth it. And if we two can be friends together, then why can’t other Indians and Pakistanis be friends?"

India’s and Pakistan’s ambassadors to the United Nations have been sitting together and cheering them on. The players now want to stage an exhibition match at the Wagah border crossing between India and Pakistan. They have invited their presidents and prime ministers and are awaiting a response. In Wimbledon, earlier this summer, they started wearing t-shirts with the message "Stop War, Start Tennis".

They eventually lost narrowly to the hot favourite America brothers, Mike and Bob Bryan who spoke warmly about the ‘IndoPak Express’: “What these guys are doing bringing India and Pakistan together is very special. It shows that sport can bring people together." Both of the Americans have  donated generously to an appeal fund set up for the Pakistan floods.  "It’s just a match and it’s just a game. A lot of people in Pakistan don’t have homes and are out on the street. What these guys are doing bringing India and Pakistan together is very special. It shows that sport can bring people together."

Although many of the thousands in the stadium and the millions watching on TV expected him to collapse into tears after coming very very close to winning the championship, he replied:

“No. I’m one of the lucky few that gets cheered for. So thank you for that. I appreciate it (massive applause). You know aww, I just want to say congratulations to Roger (Federer). You know he’s a true champion. He deserves everything he gets. So well done Roger.

Sue Barker: “You threw everything at him.”

“Well I tried. Sorry Pete (Pete Sampras who was in the crowd and whose record of 14 Grand Slams has now been taken Federer with his 15th Grand Slam title). I tried to hold him off. It was a pleasure playing here today in front of great champions like Pete (Sampras), Minolo (?), Rod (Laver) and Bjorn (Borg). I still hope one day that my name will be up there as winner of this tournament. And I’ll be back.” (massive applause).

- a true sportsman.

See the interview: http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/tennis/8135340.stm