Joe McConnell
Team Great Britain runner Rose Harvey has revealed she completed the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics with a broken leg.
The 31-year-old placed 78th in Sunday’s race, posting a time of two hours, 51 minutes and three seconds.
“It was far from the Olympics I had dreamed of, but it was still an unforgettable experience,” Harvey wrote on Instagram, including a photo of himself on crutches after returning to the UK.
“I was so excited to stand on that stage, prove that I have what it takes to be part of Team GB and, most importantly, make everyone who has helped me get to this point proud.
“And just a couple weeks ago, everything was looking so good. The training had been stellar. Then I developed a little bit of tightness in my hip.
“My incredible team and I worked so hard to get the start line ready in a healthy and comfortable way, and we were all optimistic that with a little adrenaline on race day I could run the race I knew I had.
“After a couple of miles, I knew right away that wasn’t going to happen. The next 24 miles were a painful battle. I finally learned that I had a stress fracture in my femur.”
Harvey, whose marathon personal best is 2:23:21, continued: “In any other race, I would have stopped and there were so many moments where I thought I wouldn’t be able to take another step. The downhills were hell.
“But even though most of my competitive goals had faded, there was still one small part of my Olympic dream that I could hold on to: finishing the Olympic marathon.
“I couldn’t give up. I kept telling myself to smile, absorb the energy of that incredible crowd and just put one foot in front of the other.
“It was heartbreaking. But being a part of the Olympics is something I will never forget and being able to share the race with so many of my amazing friends and family meant the world to me.”
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