Hamblin of New Zealand and D’Agostino of the U.S. fell to the ground after tripping in the early stages of Tuesday’s second women’s 5,000m heat here.
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But D’Agostino got the worst of the collision.
“She helped me first”, Hamblin said.
Just after the rescue, D’Agostino collapsed to the ground, unable to continue – but this time, it was Hamblin who stayed to help her.
USA’s Abbey D’Agostino also tripped, but stopped to encourage Hamblin to get back up and finish the race.
Despite qualifying for Friday’s Olympic final, the American will not be able to run in the race.
D’Agostino remarkably finished the race despite the severe injury, and she was taken off the track in a wheel chair after finishing.
“I will be with the girls and Nikki in spirit, cheering them on”, D’Agostino said, admitting she was unsure exactly where her support will lie.
That was a message that D’Agostino focused on Wednesday, too. Stuck on the track, Hamblin was stunned.
“I’m never going to forget that moment”, she said. She urged Hamblin to go on, but in a moment reminiscent of John Landy’s immortalised hand to fellow Australian Ron Clarke in 1956, the Kiwi waited for the American before setting off again.
“Of however many athletes are here at the Olympic Games, such a small number are actually winners, such a small number actually get to stand on top of the podium, and obviously, that’s what everyone comes here to do, to try to stand on the top, but there’s actually so much more to the whole Olympic Games than that”, Hamblin said.
“When we crossed the finish line, we didn’t have any negative feelings. And isn’t that just so incredible?”
Barry Harwick is the track and field director at Dartmouth College, D’Agostino’s alma mater.
Once they both started running again, it was D’Agostino who had trouble continuing when her right knee, which she twisted in the fall, started to give out on her.
“But that can be managed, and what’s happening now and just the moment that we get to be a part of is so cool, and I mean that from the bottom of my heart”, D’Agostino said.
“Someone asked us earlier whether we would change it and both of us said we wouldn’t”, she said.
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But Harwick doesn’t think D’Agostino is done for good. Hamblin finished after 16 minutes and 43 minutes, while D’Agostino eventually finished after 17 minutes and 10 seconds, more than two minutes after the victor of the heat, Almaz Ayana, from Ethiopia.
