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The Spirit Of The Olympic Games, Captured In 1 Heartwarming Picture

The Spirit Of The Olympic Games, Captured In 1 Heartwarming Picture
Kenya's Jemima Sumgong and Bahrain's Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa celebrate taking gold and silver in the women's marathon at Rio 2016 on Sunday.
Dylan Martinez / Reuters
Kenya's Jemima Sumgong and Bahrain's Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa celebrate taking gold and silver in the women's marathon at Rio 2016 on Sunday.
Kenya's Jemima Sumgong and Bahrain's Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa celebrate taking gold and silver in the women's marathon at Rio 2016 on Sunday.
Dylan Martinez / Reuters
Kenya's Jemima Sumgong and Bahrain's Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa celebrate taking gold and silver in the women's marathon at Rio 2016 on Sunday.

This is how you deal with defeat at the Olympic Games.

Bahrain’s Eunice Jepkirui Kirwa lost out on gold in the Rio 2016 women’s marathon to Kenya’s Jemima Sumgong by just nine seconds Sunday.

But instead of sulking about her loss, Kirwa was extremely gracious in defeat, and joined hands with her rival to help her celebrate her achievement.

Sumgong only beat her rival by nine seconds in the road race.
David Gray / Reuters
Sumgong only beat her rival by nine seconds in the road race.

Reuters photographer Dylan Martinez captured the touching moment between the two athletes on camera, and the heartwarming image is now going viral.

The duo are, however, longtime friends. The 32-year-old, Kenyan-born Kirwa ― who switched to race for Bahrain in 2013 ― actually still lives near her 31-year-old competitor in the western Kenya town of Kapsabet.

Sumgong took the gold in a time of 2 hours, 24 minutes and 4 seconds, after being forced to dodge a protestor earlier in the road race.

Kirwa (left) and Sumgong (center) were joined on the podium by Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba, who took bronze in the women's marathon at Rio 2016.
POOL New / Reuters
Kirwa (left) and Sumgong (center) were joined on the podium by Ethiopia's Mare Dibaba, who took bronze in the women's marathon at Rio 2016.
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This article exists as part of the online archive for HuffPost India, which closed in 2020. Some features are no longer enabled. If you have questions or concerns about this article, please contact indiasupport@huffpost.com.