Voies Royales 10K: a remarkable act of fair play goes viral worldwide

More than 15 million views in under 48 hours on Stadion's channels. On Sunday at the Voies Royales 10K in Saint-Denis, Gaspard Cothias-Faure let Abubakr Abdallah take the win after a wrong turn. A rare moment that shows how running is also about respect, sportsmanship and passion.

Some finishes mean far more than a time on the clock. On Sunday, at the Voies Royales 10K in Saint-Denis, with a memorable finish inside the Stade de France, Abubakr Abdallah (ES Nanterre) took the win in 31:14, one second ahead of Gaspard Cothias-Faure (31:15). But beyond the results, it was the runner-up's gesture that turned the race into an extraordinary story.

The two men moved to the front from the third kilometre, gradually turning the race into a head-to-head battle. Running together through the eighth kilometre, they put on a fine duel before Gaspard Cothias-Faure began to feel the effort on the descent towards the Stade de France.

“ I didn't want to win when I knew I had been beaten”

Then, a few hundred metres from the finish, the race took an unexpected turn. Following the lead motorcycle, Abubakr Abdallah went the wrong way. Gaspard Cothias-Faure passed him and found himself in position to win the race. Rather than take advantage of the mistake, though, he made a choice that commands respect: he waited for his rival, giving him time to rejoin the course and cross the line as the winner.

“ I didn't want to win when I knew I had been beaten”, he explained. A simple sentence that perfectly captures his mindset. With victory suddenly within reach, the runner chose to stay true to his vision of sport.

A gesture that goes far beyond the result

The scene quickly spread across social media, surpassing 15 million views in under 48 hours on Stadion's channels. The response shows just how universal the gesture was. Gaspard Cothias-Faure, a 28-year-old software engineer based in Paris, can be proud of his race. He is now preparing for the La Rochelle Marathon at the end of November, targeting a time between 2:25 and 2:30. Inside the iconic Stade de France, he did not take the win, but he gave athletics a wonderful moment.