This touching moment from the Summer 2016 Rio Olympics will give you all the feels.
On Tuesday morning during the women’s 5,000m heat, New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin stumbled and fell after being accidentally tripped. As Hamblin was on the ground, American athlete Abbey D’Agostino tripped over her, leaving both runners out of contention for an Olympic medal.
Videos by PopCulture.com
However, it was in this moment that both athletes caught the attention of the crowd. D’Agostino took Hamblin by the shoulder and encouraged her that they needed to finish the race. “Get up, get up! We have to finish this! This is the Olympic Games. We have to finish this,” D’Agostino said to Hamblin.
D’Agostino was actually very hurt as she had to limp her way to the finish line, reminiscent of Derek Redmond at the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona.
Hamblin stated: “When I went down, I was like, ‘What’s happening, why am I on the ground?’ And suddenly there’s this hand on my shoulder like, ‘Get up, get up, we have to finish this.’ And I’m like ‘Okay, yep, yep, you’re right, it’s the Olympic Games, we have to finish this.’ I’m so grateful for Abbey for doing that for me. I mean, that girl is the Olympic spirit right there.”
“I finished and I had a lonely last four laps but she ran four and a half laps barely being able to run. I’m so impressed and inspired that she did that. I’ve never met her before. Like, I’ve never met this girl before. And isn’t that just so amazing? That’s an amazing moment. Regardless of the race and the result on the board, that’s a moment that you’re never, ever going to forget. The rest of your life, it’s going to be that girl shaking my shoulder like ‘Come on, get up.’ And I really hope she’s okay. And I know that she’s young and she’s going to have so many more opportunities. And being such a good human being, she’s going to go so far.”
These are the special kinds of moments and memories that will live eternal in the hearts of fans all over the world of the Olympics, and this is still for some what the games are all about.
[H/T Le Buzz]
