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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.

Olympic 5000m

Olympic 5000m

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.

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 USAUSA 15:06.14 15:06.14
2 1036 Susan KUIJKEN NEDNED 15:19.96 15:04.36
3 344 Eloise WELLINGS AUSAUS 15:19.02 14:54.11
4 649 Senbere TEFERI ETHETH 14:35.09 14:35.09
5 954 Hellen Onsando OBIRI KENKEN 14:32.02 14:32.02
6 1075 Nikki HAMBLIN NZLNZL 16:43.61 15:18.02
7 1257 Yasemin CAN TURTUR 14:37.61 14:37.61
8 329 Genevieve LACAZE AUSAUS 15:20.45 15:20.45
9 351 Jennifer WENTH AUTAUT 15:54.98 15:16.12
10 924 Miyuki UEHARA JPNJPN 15:23.41 15:21.40
11 325 Madeline HEINER HILLS AUSAUS 15:21.33 15:11.17
12 653 Ababel YESHANEH ETHETH 14:41.58 14:41.58
13 1068 Karoline Bjerkeli GRØVDAL NORNOR 14:57.77 14:57.77
14 709 Eilish MCCOLGAN GBRGBR 15:09.94 15:09.94
15 945 Mercy CHERONO KENKEN 14:33.95 14:33.95
16 1335 Abbey D’AGOSTINO USAUSA 15:14.04 15:03.85
17 641 Almaz AYANA ETHETH 14:12.59 14:12.59
18 946 Vivian Jepkemoi CHERUIYOT KENKEN 14:35.69 14:20.87

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