Every dedicated athlete focuses on their goal.
In youth soccer, maybe it’s winning the league playoffs, while in high school, we all want to be state champions. When you’re a professional, you always dream of what it would be like to hoist the Stanley Cup or Lombardi trophy over your head. And above all this, if you are given the honor to represent your country in the Olympic games, you really want to make sure you bring home the gold.
Some of the athletes make it look so easy. Sure, Michael Phelps has 28 medals, with 23 of them being gold. Everyone was shocked when Simone Biles didn’t get that 5th gold, even though her other performances were pretty damn perfect. And so many stopped watching after our women’s beach volleyball duo was out of gold medal contention.
We focus all our attention on the gold. Of course we want to be the best, but just medaling at all is an amazing accomplishment. And what if being the best, isn’t something placed around your neck on a podium?
On August 16, 2016, the preliminaries for the women’s 5,000 meter race took place at the summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Talented and trained hopefuls from all over the world lined up to prove themselves, and to run for their country. With not even medals on the line, these women were faced with the challenge of even just qualifying for the final, where they would have the opportunity to fight for a spot on the podium. Beyond the drama of Lochtegate, the fears of Zika and the chaos of the Olympic games, something incredible happened.
A runner fell.
Nikki Hamblin, a 28-year-old runner from New Zealand, tripped midway through this race. She fell flat on her face, and 24-year-old American Abbey D’Agostino went down over her. D’Agostino popped back up, and instead of turning around to try and catch up with the pack, she turned the other way and helped out her pack. As Hamblin lay on the ground, D’Agostino picked her up and told her she had to keep going, this is the Olympics! Both struggled through to the finish line, finishing in the last two spots. As soon as she had crossed that line, she and Hamblin embraced, both grateful to have each other to share this experience with. The joy on their faces was undeniable, they didn’t about the end results, they knew they had accomplished something bigger.
It quickly became clear that D’Agostino’s injuries were quite severe. Hamblin called medics over to help her new friend, who was struggling to walk. Although both were advanced to the final because of the trip, D’Agostino’s injuries proved to be too powerful, with a torn ACL and meniscus, she was forced to resign.
But even among the physical pain and the emotional heartbreak for D’Agostino, she embodies not just the Olympic spirit, the American and Christian spirits as well. Although she couldn’t help being tripped, her actions afterwards were everything you want a good role model to do: to help a fallen friend, to finish through the pain, and to never complain but always be grateful after it’s over. Hamblin said it best: "Everyone wants to win and get a medal, but as disappointing as it is, there is so much more to this … It is just a mutual understanding of how much everyone puts into it.” And like the saying goes: not all treasure is silver and gold.
From here, D’Agostino will have to have surgery to repair damage done to the ligaments in her knee. She’ll face a long recovery, especially if she wishes to continue competing. But for now, she is the living, breathing spirit of what the Olympics, and athleticism are all about.
