Dutch speed skater Kai Verbij chose sportsmanship over the Beijing Olympic medal at the National Speed Skating Oval on Friday.

Verbij was the reigning world champion in the speed skating men’s 1000m event. He was paired with Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil, but right before heading into the final lap, he backed off on the final crossover straight — knowing he didn’t have enough speed to get in front of Dubreuil.

Rather than risk a collision, Verbij popped out of his racing crouch and slowed so he stayed clear of Dubreuil, who zipped away to capture the silver medal, according to a report by the Associated Press. 

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With his medal chances gone, Verbij coasted around to the finish line. He wound up more than 3 1/2 seconds behind the best-to-last finisher, Austin Kleba of the United States.

“I’m pretty sad I couldn’t set a proper time. But Laurent skated really, really fast in the first 600. It can happen. After the second inner, I didn’t feel I had enough speed to go before him in the lane change. So I had to quit. Otherwise, I would’ve been disqualified and probably messed up his race,” Verbij said. 

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In speedskating, participants need to change lanes every lap. because the inner lane of 400-meter oval covers a shorter distance. Since Dubreil was exceptionally fast and Verbig knew he didn’t have enough speed to get in front for the crossover, he gave way to his opponent and slowed down. 

Verbij finished in last place. 

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“I can’t say thank you enough to him. It was a really professional and classy move to do. He’s a friend, so when he gets over it — I’ll give him some time — I’ll thank him for sure,” Dubreil, who secured silver with a time of 1.08:32, said. 

“It’s not the first time it’s happened to me, but not at the Olympics, of course,” Verbij said, adding, “It’s pretty sad. I’m pretty disappointed. But someone had to lose, I guess,” according to the AP report. 

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Netherlands speed skater Thomas Krol, who won the gold, said, “It‘s just really sad to see this happen because he’s my best friend. He was on the course for a medal for sure. I was really cheering for him and hoping that he would be on the podium with me.”

“I really feel sorry for him. My heart hurts,” he said. 

(Written with Associated Press inputs)