Olympic runner reveals that she broke her leg in the beginning of the 2024 Paris Marathon but managed to cross the finish line
Rose Harvey of Team GB had every runner's worst nightmare when competing in the women's marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
Team GB runner Rose Harvey spoke of her “incredibly painful” injury at the games on Sunday, Aug. 11, in a new interview.
Rose Harvey of Team GB had every runner’s worst nightmare when competing in the women’s marathon at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.
The 31-year-old endured an excruciating ordeal during the marathon on Sunday, August 11, breaking her leg, which she battled to overcome before placing 78th.
“It was really tough,” Harvey told the BBC. “The hills didn’t help at all, the downhills were just agony and it just got worse and worse. At the halfway mark, I knew it was going to be incredibly painful.”
Harvey published a picture of herself on crutches on Instagram on Tuesday, August 13, along with an explanation that she broke her femur during the race.
She wrote that she felt “tightness” in her hip two weeks before the Games and committed to staying in the race after working hard in training and feeling “optimistic … I would be able to run the race I knew I had in me.”
Nevertheless, she “quickly realized that wasn’t going to happen” during the first two miles of the marathon, characterizing the subsequent 24 miles as “a painful battle.”
Harvey disclosed to that her fiancé, Charlie Thuillier, motivated her to persist by providing encouragement from the sidelines.
“Every mile, I just thought, ‘Right, just run to Charlie; run to when I can see him next,’ ” she recalled. “I think the other big thing is I knew deep down if I stopped I would always wonder, ‘What if I could’ve just run an extra mile?’ And I wouldn’t be able to live with that.”
“The Olympic energy was what kept me going to that finish line,” she added.
Harvey completed the race in 78th place, with a time of 2:51:03, surpassing two other competitors, despite the “agony.”
She may have emerged victorious in the marathon had she been in better health. Harvey qualified for the 2023 games by finishing in Chicago with a time of 2:23:21, which was only 26 seconds behind the gold medalist in the women’s marathon, Sifan Hassan of The Netherlands.
The British athlete expressed on Instagram that the experience was “heartbreaking,” but she also stated, “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.”
In 2022, Harvey initiated his professional running career. As per the outlet, she was the quickest British lady to compete in the London Marathon by the following year.
Currently, her primary objective is to recuperate in preparation for her nuptials, which is scheduled to take place in three weeks.
“My big challenge is to hopefully be off crutches for the wedding but we will see. It might be Charlie walking down the aisle at this rate,” she added.
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