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IN THE MIDST of allegations of corruption in Rio, two Olympic runners are being commended for putting sportsmanship ahead of their medal dreams.

Middle-distance runners Abbey D’Agostino of the United States and Nikki Hamblin of New Zealand both took hard falls on the track in Rio during a preliminary heat in the women’s 5,000 meters yesterday morning.

But what happened after their falls has drawn praise from all over, as both D’Agostino and Hamblin helped each other up, made sure each was ok, and then took to finish their races, even though both looked hurt and finished much later than the rest of the field.

The women are being commended for an excellent display of sportsmanship on both sides, and have been given exemptions because of the fall, which allows them to carry on to the semi-finals.

The fall happened early in the heat, as D’Agostino appeared to clip Hamblin with her spikes:

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Both runners hit the track hard:

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D’Agostino got up first, but rather than immediately taking off she waited to make sure that Hamblin was ok:

When Hamblin got back up, they both started to run. Both were visibly upset about what had happened:

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Then, D’Agostino’s knee quickly started to bother her:

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When D’Agostino hit the track again, this time it was Hamblin who waited, making sure D’Agostino was ok to continue:

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Finally, they both got on their way. Even though they’d been lapped by the field, both runners gutted it out to cross the finish line.

Here’s D’Agostino at the finish:

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Afterwards, she was greeted by Hamblin, and the two shared a nice moment:

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Both runners were ultimately given exemptions that allowed them to advance, as exiting as a result of a nasty fall would be far too cruel. Hopefully their semi-final races will be a little bit smoother.

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