When Scottish sprinter Eric Liddell learned that the 100 meter heats at the 1924 Paris Olympics would be run on a Sunday, he refused to take part, even though the 100 was his strongest distance, and news of his decision travelled around the world. He spent the next months training for the 400 meters instead, took bronze in the 200, and then, running blind from the outside lane in the 400 final, won gold in an Olympic record 47.6 seconds. “With the help of God, I ran the next 200m even more strongly,” he later said. Liddell then went back to China as a missionary and died at 43 in a Japanese internment camp in February 1945, just months before the war ended.
In April 2008, Western Oregon senior Sara Tucholsky hit the first home run of her life, but she missed first base, turned back, and tore up her knee. She could barely crawl back to the bag, and the rules said her own teammates couldn’t help her. That’s when Mallory Holtman, a first baseman on the other team, Central Washington, asked the umpire if they could carry her. Holtman and shortstop Liz Wallace picked Sara up and carried her around the bases, gently letting her touch each one with her good leg. That home run knocked their own team out of the playoffs, but Holtman said it was simply the right thing to do.
In December 2012, at a cross-country race in Burlada, Spain, Kenyan Olympic medalist Abel Mutai was way out front. Just short of the finish, he got confused and pulled up about ten meters early, thinking he had already crossed the line. Spanish runner Iván Fernández Anaya caught up to him and could easily have sprinted past to win. Instead, he stayed behind and used gestures to guide Mutai across the line first. He said afterward that Mutai was the rightful winner and he didn’t deserve to win that way.
In February 2013, Sarah Darling of Kansas City accidentally dumped her diamond engagement ring into the donation cup of Billy Ray Harris, a homeless man who often slept under a bridge. She didn’t realize it until the next day. When she found him and asked, he said yes, he had it, and he had kept it for her. He could have sold it, but he didn’t. Darling and her husband set up a fundraiser to thank him, and donations poured in from around the world.
When the Revolutionary War was over, George Washington could have held on to command of the army, and plenty of people expected him to. Instead, on December 23, 1783, he stood before Congress in Annapolis and resigned his commission. People there said his voice faltered and there were plenty of tears in the room. He handed over his commission and rode home to Mount Vernon in time for Christmas. King George III reportedly said that if Washington did that, he would be the greatest man in the world.
