better man

柔道男子６０キロ級の平岡拓晃選手は決勝戦でガルスチャン（ロシア）と対戦しましたが，一本負けで銀メダルとなりました。

Galstyan, whom Hiraoka lost to in the quarterfinals of the 2010 world championships, was also the better man on this day at the ExCel venue.

Hiraoka defeated Elio Verde of Italy, scoring an inner-leg sacrifice sweep for ippon to make the final against Galstyan, who he shared the bronze with in 2010.

Despite his disappointment, Hiraoka's silver gave Japan a boost for its first medal of the 2012 Summer Games.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120729p2g00m0sp006000c.html

the better manは「〜よりも上を行く，一枚上手である」というときに使われるイディオムです。

今回のオリンピック関連の記事を読んでいると，なぜかbetterが目にとまります。開会式の"Hey Jude"が記者の耳でこだましているのかもしれません。（UG）

LONDON (Kyodo) -- Japanese weightlifter Hiromi Miyake captured the silver medal in the women's 48-kilogram class at the London Olympics on Saturday, going one better than her father who won bronze at the 1968 Mexico Games.

Miyake lifted a national record total of 197 kilograms and became the first Japanese woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal. China's Wang Mingjuan took the gold with 205 kg, and the bronze went to Ryang Chun Hwa of North Korea at 192 kg.

Miyake, who finished ninth in her Olympic debut at the 2004 Athens Games and sixth in Beijing four years later, hoisted a national record-tying 83 kg in her first snatch attempt and broke it with 85 kg and then 87 kg.

In the clean and jerk, the diminutive 26-year-old tied her own national record of 110 kg in her second effort.

"This feels like a dream," said Miyake, who claimed bronze at the 2006 world championships.
"It hasn't hit home yet. I have been aiming for a medal for 12 years. I was just focused on bettering my own record, but I never thought that I would be able to get a medal. I am glad I went one better than my father (Yoshiyuki) who won the bronze," she said.

Olympic debutant Honami Mizuochi, the other Japanese in the field, placed sixth with a total of 176 kg.

http://mainichi.jp/english/english/newsselect/news/20120729p2g00m0sp008000c.html