These Olympic runners got something rarer than gold.
After colliding during a race last week and helping each other cross the finish line, American Abbey D’Agostino and Nikki Hamblin, of New Zealand, received a prize for their sportsmanship.
The International Fair Play Committee granted the athletes the Fair Play Award over the weekend.
The women are also in the running for the Pierre de Coubertin sportsmanship medal, which has been given to only 17 other Olympic athletes, according to The International Business Times.
I am proud that what we did and truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time
“Winning this award is overwhelming,” Hamblin said at the ceremony. “I ... truly believe that you can be both a competitor and kind and responsive at the same time.”
D’Agostino and Hamblin tumbled to the ground after crashing into each other during Round 1 of the 5,000-meter race on Aug. 16. D’Agostino soon got up and, instead of continuing the race, helped Hamblin to her feet.
After colliding, @abbey_dags (#USA) & @NikkiHamblin (#NZL) show true #Olympic spirit. https://t.co/LJf9pvPIbV https://t.co/HTfixzxCVS
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics)
“Get up, get up! We have to finish!” D’Agostino told the New Zealand runner, according to ESPN. “This is the Olympic Games.
We have to finish this.”They eventually finished the race in the two last places, and embraced at the finish line.
Hamblin later helped D’Agostino, who tore her ACL, into a wheelchair.
“I am so grateful to Abbey for picking me up, and I think many people would have returned the favor,” Hamblin said at the awards ceremony. “Once you are on the track, there is a mutual understanding of what it takes to get there.”
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