We are so used to seeing this gesture being made by Brazilian sportspeople. It is normally used to announce that the “man is in the house”, “the boys are back in town”, the famous “while I am here, anything can happen”. It is a common mechanism to provoke adversaries, to set fire to rivalries, to ignite the already inflated ego of some athletes around the world. 

During the gymnastics competition today, men’s teams went struggling for medals, and right after Japan had flown to 1st place (because that’s what those athletes do, they fly), Daiki Hashimoto makes the same gesture. 

Considered the most complete athlete in gymnastics these days, his gesture is to ask the crowd to be calm and respect the next athlete to compete, the Chinese who can take the golden medal out of Japanese hands. 

Japan ends up with gold. Number one role-model to be followed both in sports and in citizenship.