The athletes have been lauded for their sportsmanship and for epitomising the Olympic spirit.
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Midway through the second women’s 5000m heat the pack bunched up and New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin checked her stride.
“You come into an Olympic Games and everyone wants to win, everyone wants to medal”.
“When we look back at the Rio Games this is going to be the moment, when Abbey picked me up and having that hug”.
After the race, Hamblin told reporters that she’s never met D’Agostino before, but she’ll forever be touched by her kindness on the track.
An American runner has been praised as a true Olympian after stopping mid-race to help a fallen rival on to her feet.
But instead of simply getting up and continuing the race, the two competitors made sure the other crossed the finish line.
“I’ve never met this girl before, and isn’t that just so unbelievable, such an incredible woman”, Hamblin told United Kingdom paper The Telegraph. And isn’t that just so wonderful.
D’Agostino’s ankle grew more painful as she continued the race and she collapsed meters later.
“She helped me first”. D’Agostino then jumped back up to her feet.
As D’Agostino was about to be taken away in a wheelchair, she stretched out her right hand and the two runners gripped each other’s forearms for a few moments.
While Hamblin was crying out in pain, D’Agostino stood up. “That’s an fantastic moment”.
Although my actions were instinctual at that moment, the only way I can and have rationalized it is that God prepared my heart to respond that way.
“I went down, and I was like, ‘What’s happening? She was pretty bad”, Hamblin said.
Hamblin fell heavily on her right shoulder.
According to the Washington Post, Olympic officials agreed to allow D’Agostino and Hamblin to compete in the event finals on Friday after their respective countries filed a “protest” claiming that they shouldn’t be penalized for the incident. An MRI administered Tuesday revealed a complete tear of her right ACL, a meniscus tear, and a strained MCL.
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“It’s connected us in a way that’s powerful”, the 24-year-old from Topsfield, Massachusetts, said. When someone asks me what happened in Rio in 20 years time, that is my story.
