Olympic Sprinters Comfort Opponent Who Collapsed With an Injury During 100m Heat

Stephen Douglas | Aug 2, 2024

Silina Pha Aphay and Valentina Meredova comfort Lucia Moris who suffered an injury at Paris Olympics. / Photo by JEWEL SAMAD/AFP via Getty Images

The track and field portion of the Paris Olympics began on Friday with a number of events, including the first round of the women's100-meter sprint. There was a scary moment during the very first heat of the day as South Sudan's Lucia Moris collapsed approximately 70 meters into the race.

As Moris lay on the ground screaming in pain from a leg injury, Laos's Silina Pha Aphay, who had run a 12.45 and finished in sixth place in the heat, ran back to check on her. Pha Aphay signaled to medical professionals and remained with Moris until they took her opponent away on a stretcher.

Turkmenistan's Valentina Meredova also came back to check on Moris. Meredova finished in fourth place in the heat to advance to the next round, but was eliminated from the competition during a heat featuring Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce.

It was one of those moments of sportsmanship that both athletes will remember, despite the fact that their Olympics ended with the first heat of the first day of their competition. Both women were representing their countries for the second straight Olympics. Moris and Pha Aphay were flag bearers for their respective countries in 2021.

In a cruel twist, Moris's Tokyo Olympics experience basically ended in the same fashion as she suffered a leg injury and left the track in a wheelchair.