Hugs, pep talks and acts of kindness: Olympic athletes show they can be more than competitors

At an Olympic Games where mental health has been front and centre, acts of kindness abound. The world's most competitive athletes have been captured showing gentleness and warmth to one another — celebrating, pep-talking and wiping away one another's tears of disappointment.

Here's a look at some of those moments of generosity and great sportsmanship at Tokyo 2020.

Gianmarco Tamberi of Italy and Mutaz Barshim of Qatar found themselves in a situation they'd talked about but never experienced — they were tied. And once the bar was set to what would have been the Olympic-record height of 2.39 metres, each missed three times. They could have gone to a jump-off, but instead decided to share the gold.

(Christian Petersen/The Associated Press)

Caeleb Dressel of the United States tossed his gold medal in the men's 4x100-metre freestyle relay to teammate Brooks Curry, who swam for Dressel in the qualifying heats and helped the team get to the finals. "I had the easiest job last night out of everyone here," said Dressel, who won five gold medals. "I got to watch it on TV, so I felt like [Curry] deserved that a little more than me."

(Aleksandra Szmigiel/Reuters)

Runners Isaiah Jewett of the U.S., left, and Nijel Amos of Botswana got tangled and fell during the 800-metre semifinals. Rather than get angry, they helped each other to their feet, put their arms around each other and finished together on Aug. 1.

(Jae C. Hong/The Associated Press)

Argentina goalkeeper Maria Belen Succi, left, comforted Germany's Charlotte Stapenhorst after Argentina won their women's field hockey match on Monday.

(John Locher/The Associated Press)

Serbia's Novak Djokovic, right, congratulated and hugged Germany's Alexander Zverev for winning their men's singles semifinal tennis match at the Ariake Tennis Park on July 30. Zverev would go on to win the gold medal match on Sunday.

(Tiziana Fabi/AFP/Getty Images)

After the punishing women's triathlon on July 27, Norwegian Lotte Miller, left, who placed 24th, took a moment to give a pep talk to Belgium's Claire Michel, who slumped to the ground, sobbing. Michel had come in last, 15 minutes behind winner Flora Duffy of Bermuda — but at least she finished. Fifty-four athletes started the race, but 20 were either lapped or dropped out. "You're a [expletive] fighter," Miller told Michel. "This is Olympic spirit, and you've got it 100 per cent."

(David Goldman/The Associated Press)

Surfer Kanoa Igarashi of Japan, left, was disappointed when he lost to Brazilian Italo Ferreira, centre, in their sport's Olympic debut. Not only did he blow his shot at gold on the beach he grew up surfing, he was also being taunted online by racist Brazilian trolls. The Japanese-American surfer could have stewed in silence, but he instead deployed his knowledge of Portuguese, helping to translate a news conference question for Ferreira on July 27.

(Reuters)