A Canadian Figure Skater Flexed His Politeness By Holding Up The Winning Skater's Flag

What is the most Canadian thing you can think of? Maple syrup? Hockey? An unnecessary apology? What about being polite? That's definitely something that Canadians are known for, and one Canadian figure skater, Keegan Messing, decided to really flex his politeness on the world stage during the medal ceremony of a recent competition in Oakville.

Messing, a Canadian skater from Alberta, won bronze at the 2019 Autumn Classic International and was standing on the winner's podium next to gold medal winner, Yuzuru Hanyu of Japan. As the Japanese national anthem started to play, Messing turned on the podium and lifted the Japanese flag so Hanyu could see it during the celebration.

It was a small gesture, but Hanyu appeared to appreciate it, as he gave Messing a bow afterward to thank him. Messing's politeness was featured on the official Olympic channel Twitter. Apparently, though, this kind of thing is not out of the ordinary for the young figure skater.

As one Reddit user pointed out, Keegan Messing has long been known for his kindness and respect toward his fellow competitors. "Keegan Messing is the purest human being on earth," wrote Reddit user CountyKildare. "He's absolutely unreal charming and sweet and respectful and he's best friends with every figure skater in Canada especially but also every skater on earth because of how nice he is."

The comment featured links to videos of some of Messing's other moments of kindness, such as paying huge respect to his competitors for a great performance instead of preparing for his own. He had also had a previous polite moment on the podium in another competition, where he let the winner step up to the gold medal spot from his platform.

The comment also featured a link to one of Messing's performances where he skates to the song he and his wife used for their first dance. "He just has ridiculous heart eyes the whole time he skates as he thinks of his lovely bride," the Reddit user wrote.

Messing also used the song for his performance at the 2019 Autumn Classic International, saying on the CBC Player's Own Voice podcast, "It's the first time in my singles competitive career that I did not feel alone on the ice while I was performing. It was almost like I was in a trance."

Keegan Messing may be representing Canada on the world stage at the Tokyo Olympics in 2020, and if he does, then the whole world will get to see what great person he is.

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