100 years of great sporting gestures

Magnanimous Moss

In Portugal in August 1958, Mike Hawthorn stalled his engine driving up an escape road and was disqualified for pushing his car backwards to restart it. Hawthorn finished second to Stirling Moss, who then gave evidence that Hawthorn had not gone backwards on the track itself, but on the perimeter. Hawthorn's points were reinstated and he became the first Briton to win the world championship (by one point, from Moss, who would otherwise have won the championship). Moss never won the title.

Honest jockeys

At the third fence in the 1962 Grand Steeplechase de Paris, the rubber bit in the mouth of English challenger Mandarin snapped, effectively leaving Fred Winter to face the rest of the four-mile track, without brakes or steering.The French jockeys, particularly Jean Daumas on the much-fancied Taillefer, guided their rival round until the final straight. Mandarin won by a short-head, becoming the first English-trained horse to win France's richest steeplechase for 37 years.

Graceful Grout

During the 1964 Ashes series, Neil Hawke was bowling for Australia, while Fred Titmus was at the non-strikers' end for England. As Titmus was going for a single, Hawke got in his way, knocking him to the ground. The fielder threw the ball to Wally Grout, the Aussie wicketkeeper, who declined the opportunity to run out Titmus and instead tossed the ball aside.

Nice guy Nicklaus

Golf's greatest act of sportsmanship came in the Ryder Cup in 1969 when Jack Nicklaus conceded a three-footer to Tony Jacklin to leave the match tied. "I didn't think you were going to miss," said Nicklaus, "but I didn't want to give you the opportunity." America retained the Cup.

Taylor's sacrifice

Last October, Mark Taylor, the Australian cricket captain, spurned the opportunity to beat Sir Donald Bradman's batting record for the highest individual score by an Australian. Taylor hit an unbeaten 334 against Pakistan to match Bradman's 334 against England in 1930, and then declared Australia's innings, also giving up the chance of beating Brian Lara's world record of 375.