Mexican Olympic skier finishes last but still gets a hero's celebration

Some athletes at the Olympics bring home the gold, some are able to snag the silver, but someone's gotta finish last.

Mexican cross-country skier German Madrazo is one such athlete. But the skier didn't let that get him down, and triumphantly slid past the finish line in the Men's 15k, brandishing a large Mexican flag and a broad, winsome smile.

Though he finished 26 minutes behind the gold-medalist, Madrazo looks triumphant. He was greeted by some other late-finishers and then hoisted up. You might recognize one of his cheerleaders as Tonga athlete, Pita Taufatofua, also known as "that really oily guy."

As an audience, we're often so fixated on who gets the gold that we forget that the biggest part of the Olympics isn't winning, it's participating. To quote the Olympic Creed created by the founder of the modern Olympic Games, Baron Pierre de Coubertin: "The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well."

Madrazo exemplifies this important part of the Olympics that we too often forget—it's not about finishing first, but about finishing on its own.