A selfless act by a 13-year-old paddler in Slovenia has been recognised by his country's Olympic committee and drawn praise from sportspeople and fans

Žiga Lin Hočevar received a Fair Play award of the Olympic Committee of Slovenia for his action after this year's canoe slalom national championships in his age group. 

The 13-year-old paddler won two national championship titles in his age group, both in men's kayak and canoe events. But after the competition, when he was video analysing his final K1 run, he noticed that he made a touch that the judges did not see.

The two penalty seconds would have cost him the national champion title and push him to second place. After realising the mistake, Žiga Lin sent the medal by post to Atej Zobec Urbančič, who was initially in the silver medal position. 

Legendary Slovenian gymnast Miroslav Cerar, president of Slovenian Olympic Academy and the most successful Slovenian sportsman with 30 medals from Olympic Games, World and European Championships, awarded Žiga Lin the honour in Tacen for his great sporting gesture. 

Žiga Lin Hočevar comes from a canoeing family. His grandfather Tone was a 1972 Olympian, his father Simon was the 1996 C1 men's canoe slalom European champion, and Žiga's older sister Eva Alina is a former junior world champion and European championships medallist, as well as this year's silver medallist in the women's C1 team event at the senior European championships in Prague.

The International Canoe Federation joins with the canoeing community in congratulating Žiga Lin on his award, and for setting a wonderful example of the true sporting spirit. 

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