Heroic surfer wins Fair Play Award

Filipino surfer Roger Casugay, who captured gold at the 2019 Southeast Asian Games longboard event, was awarded the Fair Play Award during the closing ceremonies earlier this week. The La Union native went viral after earlier saving Indonesian surfer Arip Nurhidayat when the latter was swept away during the competition.
The act even drew the attention of Indonesia President Joko Widodo.
“My appreciation to Roger Casugay, a Filipino surfer who gave up his chance to win the gold medal in a bid to help an Indonesian athlete who fell [into the sea] during the competition,” he said. “Winning a competition and upholding sportsmanship is important, but still, humanity is above all.”
The two surfers faced each other again last Sunday, where the Filipino emerged the winner and earned a spot in the finals.
Casugay served as the Philippines’ flag-bearer during the closing ceremonies./ASC, WDJ