South African rugby player gives bronze medal to injured teammate

South Africa’s Seabelo Senatla wasn’t given a bronze medal after going down with an injury in the quarterfinals. One of his teammates passed on his medal to the 23-year-old.

South Africa captured the bronze medal in the rugby sevens in Rio with a 54–14 victory over Japan on Thursday, but the team was missing a player at the podium.

Seabelo Senatla, one of the nation’s key players, went down with an injured wrist in Wednesday’s 22–5 quarterfinal victory over Australia and was unable to compete in the next two matches. After South Africa was able to overcome the loss of Senatla to finish third in the sevens, one of his teammates, Francois Hougaard, decided he would part with his medal and give it to him.

“I gave Sea my medal before I left as I believe he deserves it more,” Hougaard wrote on Twitter. “The medal is really special to me but he deserves it.”

According to Sport24, Senatla initially refused the medal, telling Hougaard that he earned it, but it seems he was insistent on giving it away.

Senatla, 23, plays Super Rugby with the Stormers in South Africa, and has played on the country’s sevens squad since 2013. He was in South Africa’s starting lineup in Rio before going down with an injury.

– Kenny Ducey