The Rio Olympics that has seen a few unsavory incidents: For example, Islam El Shehaby, the Egyptian judoka, refused to shake hands with his Israeli opponent, as The Christian Science Monitor reported. While neither athlete broke a record or even won the preliminary race, their performance has captivated the world, serving as a prime example of the Olympic spirit and good sportsmanship in action.
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American Abbey D’Agnostino and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand were 3,000m into the race today when D’Agnostino appeared to clip Hamblin’s heel, sending both tumbling to the ground.
Get free real-time news alerts from the Danvers Patch. The two athletes hit the ground hard.
The 24-year-old Olympian from MA said Wednesday that she wouldn’t participate in the final on Friday. “Then suddenly this hand on my shoulder, like, “Get up!”
With that, Hamblin chose to get up and finish the race anyway.
“I was like, “Yup, yup, you’re right”.
If there’s one thing Olympic audiences love more than medals, it’s moments that exemplify the spirit of the Games.
“She ran four and a half laps barely being able to run”, Hamblin said.
As the pair started to run again, it became evident that the American was the more damaged of the two. It was then that Hamblin made a decision to return the favor. Instead, she turned around to help the fallen New Zealander.
RIO DE JANEIRO (AP) – The 5,000-meter runner whose act of friendship captured the Olympic spirit will not return to the track in Rio after tearing ligaments in her knee. I’ve never met her before, like I’ve never met this girl before, and isn’t that just so unbelievable? Like, I’ve never met this girl before. And isn’t that just so fantastic.
Hamblin described D’Agostino as “an wonderful woman” and revealed that the pair had never met before the collision.
According to NBC Washington, the runners were knocked out of the final, but were advanced after appealing to the judges. D’Agostino, who has previously run 15:03 in the event, finished last in 17:10.02.
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As it turns out, D’Agostino suffered a completely torn right ACL, a torn meniscus and a strained MCL, ending her chances to compete for the rest of the Rio Olympics.
