Being a sport! Hillary Clinton to PV Sindhu, the best 'losing' speeches

Rafael Nadal mixed wit and sportsmanship in his speech after losing the Australian Open to Roger Federer.

Here are other commendable speeches by the recently vanquished.

Hillary Clinton

‘Sorry we did not win’

The US Presidential election was a tightly contested affair, with Donald Trump elected as America’s 45th president in November 2016. Democrat candidate Hillary Clinton began her concession speech with an apology for not winning, while also thanking her supporters. Clinton stressed on the peaceful transfer of power in her speech, urging Democrats to cooperate with the Trump administration. She urged people that no matter what setbacks they face, they must never give up fighting for what is right.

Didier Deschamps

‘We failed the nation’

The French coach, speaking after the loss of his team to eventual champions Portugal at Euro 2016, said he and the football team had failed France. Didier Deschamps was hoping for the Euro win on home soil. He admitted that there were “no words” to express his disappointment at the 1-0 defeat. However, he did say that in their journey to the finals, the team had won together, suffered together and lost together.

John Mahama

‘History will judge my time’


(Image: AFP)

The former President of Ghana, John Mahama, lost the country’s polls to Nana Akufo-Addo in December 2016. Mahama thanked God and the people of Ghana, going on to say that he would leave it to history to be the “judge of my time and contributions while in that highest office”. Mahama indicated that though he wished he had another opportunity to do more as President, he respected the will of Ghanaians.

PV Sindhu

‘Ups and downs in sport like in life’


(Image: PTI)

The Indian shuttler won a silver in the women’s singles badminton event at the Rio Olympics last year. After the loss, Sindhu said she was proud and happy, but at the same time, she had worked hard for the gold and that the match was anybody’s game. She compared the ups and downs of the game to life. She congratulated her opponent and expressed hope of changing the colour of her medal at the Tokyo 2020 Games.