[imagesource: Twitter / @Buzzerwolf89]
Swiss runner Jason Joseph has been accused of showing poor sportsmanship after celebrating brazenly in front of his unconscious rival.
Joseph sprinted to victory in the final of the 60-metre hurdles at the European Athletics Indoor Championships, jubilantly celebrating without checking on the wellbeing of Spanish runner Enrique Llopis.
Llopis fell over the last hurdle and smashed his head on the track, causing him to go unconscious.
Joseph had ample opportunity to check on his fellow sportsman after crossing the finish line but instead, he ran straight past Llopis and continued his celebrations.
Medical staff and other runners rushed to Llopis’ aid, while Joseph continued to pretty much ignore his stricken rival.
As you can imagine, this has sparked a major backlash in the Athletics world, reported Yahoo! Sports:
Spanish media slammed Joseph for “the most unsportsmanlike action in history”, leading the Swiss athlete to issue a grovelling apology. “First thing’s first. I’m sorry I didn’t check that you were okay,” he later wrote on social media.
“I was lost at the time. Totally blocked from what was around me. I hope you’re okay, I see you in outdoor competitions.”
Thankfully, Llopis was cleared from the hospital of serious injury and is expected to make a full recovery:
“Everything is good, all the tests came back fine,” he said in a video posted to social media. “Above all, thank you to the Federation and the medical staff. Now it’s time to recover.”
Joseph set a European record of 7,41 seconds to take the gold medal, while Llopis was in contention for the bronze medal when he fell:
Olympian Jade Johnson tweeted about the incident with Llopis: “This fall was horrific. I went cold. Thankfully he came around and was taken to the hospital. All I can say is that he must have an EXTREMELY hard head.”
Watch videos of the incident along with the social media scrutiny that followed:
He is a runner but he isn’t a sportman.
— 1177 (@LuisEsp27642722) March 6, 2023
Very bad behaviour Jason, you can’t celebrate a victory if your teammate is unconscious on the ground, that medal is not yours. That does not represent the spirit of athletics.
— Gabriel Botella (@BotellaGabriel) March 5, 2023
Agree fully. I was shocked to see Jason joseph laughing and celebrating besides uncoscious colleague. There are more important things in life than stupid victory of jason joseph. He should be banned from the sports. Just ugly
— Marko Ivankovic (@IvankovicMarko) March 6, 2023
looking strong? looking like a shitty person i’d say
— Coffee Guerrilla (@CoffeeGuerrilla) March 7, 2023
@llopis110 Will recovery. He’s a strong man. Jason Joseph Will never recovery of this shame
— JohnFito (@JohnFito1) March 6, 2023
[source:yahoosports]
