Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin allowed to go through to finals after big collision
A moment in the women's 5,000m heats went viral yesterday when two women clashed and fell to the track. Both stayed to help the other. They have been given the go-ahead to race in the finals despite finishing last.
In what was arguably the best demonstration of sportsmanship between athletes at the Rio Games, American runner Abbey D’Agostino and New Zealand’s Nikki Hamblin stopped their race to help each other out after the two got tangled and went down in a nasty fall. Despite being the last finishers because of the fall, both have been given the go-ahead to run in the finals on Friday night.
The moment of the semi-finals of the women’s 5,000m at the Olympics made headlines as media and sports fans congratulated the pair for the compassion they showed during the competition. Many are calling them true models and athletes who demonstrated the true spirit of the Olympics.
The fall happened in yesterday morning’s race in the second heat just as the two were on their eighth lap. Hamblin went down first and caught the American on her way down. When D’Agostino got up to keep running, she instead turned around the help Hamblin up. But then D’Agostino, suffering from the crash, fell to the track again. It was quite clear that she was very injured. When she tried to run, her pained expression made many think that she would have to drop out.
VIDEO: Winning isn’t always everything. Sportsmanship ??https://t.co/W2fXXs8D13 pic.twitter.com/vbgVUDpyZY
— CanadianRunning (@CanadianRunning) August 16, 2016
To the crowd’s amazement, the two did finish the race in the end though D’Agonstino was clearly in very rough condition. Hamblin came in 15th running 16:43. D’Agostino was the last runner to finish but she did cross the line running 17:10.02 to be whiskey away in a wheelchair moments after.
Because of the fall, both athletes were granted the chance to line up with the best for the final round. Hamblin will run but sadly, D’Agostino is too severely to run again in this Olympic Games. She has three injuries from the fall including a torn ACL.
Women’s 5,000m start list:
ORDER / LANE | BIB | ATHLETE | COUNTRY | SB 2016 | PB |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 1348 | Shelby HOULIHAN | USA | 15:06.14 | 15:06.14 |
2 | 1036 | Susan KUIJKEN | 15:19.96 | 15:04.36 | |
3 | 344 | Eloise WELLINGS | 15:19.02 | 14:54.11 | |
4 | 649 | Senbere TEFERI | 14:35.09 | 14:35.09 | |
5 | 954 | Hellen Onsando OBIRI | 14:32.02 | 14:32.02 | |
6 | 1075 | Nikki HAMBLIN | 16:43.61 | 15:18.02 | |
7 | 1257 | Yasemin CAN | 14:37.61 | 14:37.61 | |
8 | 329 | Genevieve LACAZE | 15:20.45 | 15:20.45 | |
9 | 351 | Jennifer WENTH | 15:54.98 | 15:16.12 | |
10 | 924 | Miyuki UEHARA | 15:23.41 | 15:21.40 | |
11 | 325 | Madeline HEINER HILLS | 15:21.33 | 15:11.17 | |
12 | 653 | Ababel YESHANEH | 14:41.58 | 14:41.58 | |
13 | 1068 | Karoline Bjerkeli GRØVDAL | 14:57.77 | 14:57.77 | |
14 | 709 | Eilish MCCOLGAN | 15:09.94 | 15:09.94 | |
15 | 945 | Mercy CHERONO | 14:33.95 | 14:33.95 | |
16 | 1335 | Abbey D’AGOSTINO | 15:14.04 | 15:03.85 | |
17 | 641 | Almaz AYANA | 14:12.59 | 14:12.59 | |
18 | 946 | Vivian Jepkemoi CHERUIYOT | 14:35.69 | 14:20.87 |