Team GB runner finished marathon despite breaking leg

A Team GB marathon runner completed nan gruelling arena astatine nan Paris Olympics contempt sustaining a surgery limb during Sunday's race.

Rose Harvey, from Evesham, Worcestershire, told nan BBC she refused to springiness up aft training difficult and coming into nan Games successful nan shape of her life.

The 31-year-old, who is presently connected crutches, now says she faces a caller situation - of really to get joined successful 3 weeks.

Harvey battled done nan "agony" to decorativeness 78th successful a clip of 2:51:03 successful 24C heat. The Netherlands' Sifan Hassan took golden successful an Olympic grounds clip of 2:22:55.

The British jock said it became clear to her from astir 2 miles successful that her hep - which had begun emotion tight 3 weeks antecedently - was going to beryllium "really, beautiful painful".

She ended up crossing nan statement pinch a accent fracture of her femur.

"It was really tough," Harvey told nan BBC.

"The hills didn't thief astatine all, nan downhills were conscionable agony and it conscionable sewage worse and worse. At nan halfway people I knew it was going to beryllium incredibly painful."

Despite curen for her hep earlier nan Olympics, nan wounded did not look to beryllium getting immoderate better.

Doctors and physios told Harvey that moving nan marathon would make it worse - but location was a chance that she could get done it and do her training justice.

With nary Team GB reserve disposable to capable her space, Harvey decided to effort nan arena and felt affirmative connected nan commencement line.

Six miles in, though, she was falling down nan battalion and soon moving connected her own.

But Harvey, who was selected aft moving 2:23:21 successful Chicago past twelvemonth - conscionable 26 seconds awkward of Hassan's finishing clip successful Paris - fought done nan symptom to complete nan arena up of 2 different runners. Eleven much did not finish.

"The Olympic power was benignant of what kept maine going to that decorativeness line," she said.

"Any different title I would person stopped, because I wasn't capable to tally for illustration I usually can... and nan symptom was really bad, but I conscionable had to get to that decorativeness line, I had to do nan Olympic marathon."

Harvey says she now cannot put immoderate weight done her limb astatine each truthful is not judge really she finished. But nan jock highlighted gaining "grit and resilience" from her training, having friends and family successful France and nan "incredible crowds" arsenic helping her.

She added: "Every mile, I conscionable thought 'right, conscionable tally to (her fiance) Charlie, tally to erstwhile I tin spot him next'.

"I deliberation nan different large point is I knew heavy down if I stopped I would ever wonderment 'what if I could've conscionable tally an other mile?' And I wouldn't beryllium capable to unrecorded pinch that."

Charlie, who watched nan race, said: “I cognize conscionable really overmuch activity she’s put into this and past for her not to execute precisely what she wanted to do was difficult to watch and difficult to see.

“But Rose besides demonstrated precisely why she was picked, showing existent Olympic spirit, resolve, determination, grit, immense amounts of resilience.”

The British athlete's way to becoming an Olympian was unconventional, arsenic she discovered her passion for moving aft losing her occupation arsenic a lawyer during nan first Covid lockdown successful early 2020.

She said she would antecedently tally to and from her agency successful London to debar commuting connected engaged Tube trains, but her agelong moving hours prevented her from devoting overmuch clip to nan sport.

After being made redundant astatine nan commencement of nan coronavirus pandemic, she wanted thing to support her engaged - and going for a tally was 1 of nan fewer activities still permitted.

“It conscionable benignant of snowballed from there, I perfectly loved it,” she explained successful June.

Ms Harvey went master successful 2022 and she was nan fastest British female astatine nan London Marathon that year.

Her moving clip of 2:23.21 successful Chicago past twelvemonth was nan 5th fastest-ever marathon clip for a British woman.

But her attraction is now turning to getting married.

Harvey explained: “My large situation is to hopefully beryllium disconnected crutches for nan wedding but we will see. It mightiness beryllium Charlie stepping down nan aisle astatine this rate.”

Charlie – who she met moving - added: “If Rosie is connected crutches, if she’s successful a wheelchair, if she’s connected a scooter, it doesn’t matter arsenic agelong arsenic Rosie is there.”

Additional reporting by Kathryn Armstrong