More often than not at the Olympic Games, it’s the athletes who end up with medals around their necks that make most of the headlines.
While New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin and Abbey D’Agostino of the USA *won’t* be standing atop of any podiums in the next few days, what happened between the pair on Tuesday is one of the finest examples of sportsmanship we’ll see during the Rio Olympic Games.
Both distance runners were competing in the 5,000m when Hamblin took a tumble, seemingly clipped by D’Agostino, who is also brought down.
#Olympics Spirit. 4 years training, semi final of 5000m, yet D'Agostino stops to help fallen rival. pic.twitter.com/7T1zB5bqpT
— Daniel Tatarsky (@DanielTatarsky) August 16, 2016
Although the American quickly returns to her feet, rather than running on and leaving Hamblin, she waits with her, even attempting to help her back to her feet.
The fall effectively ended both women’s hopes of progressing from the heat, with D’Agostino also appearing to injure her leg. She would eventually leave the track in a wheelchair, but not before finishing the race, two minutes after heat winner, Almaz Ayana.
As she eventually crossed the line, Hamblin was there to greet her and the pair shared an emotional hug.
Es la historia de #Rio2016
D'Agostino #USA y Hamblin #NZL se caen, se ayudan, se esperan en meta. ¡A LA FINAL!https://t.co/ij6xJRqfL7— Zona Deportiva (@ZonaDeportivaZD) August 16, 2016
This show of sportsmanship was a far cry from what we witnessed from Egyptian Islam El Shehaby after he lost his first round judo contest with Israel’s Or Sasson earlier this week.
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