Context: frustratingly, I can’t find anyone serious reporting on this, so all I’ve got to go on is this video and its mirrors, and the comments under them.

But supposedly, if the French athlete here had overtaken the Ukrainian at this point, the Ukrainian would have been lapped and not allowed to finish the race. In an act of stunning sportsmanship, Julia Simon chose to coast along just behind the Ukrainian athlete.

The story feels wrong, since the Ukrainian team in the women’s relay biathlon finished 14th, and only 19th and 20th are listed as having been lapped. And the Ukranian is seen finishing with nobody near her. If it were true, we would expect the Ukrainian to be the last-place of the non-lapped finishers.

But still, the video clearly shows some kind of support being given by Simon to the Ukranian biathlete, so it’s still a sweet moment, whatever it is.