British Runner Finishes Olympic Marathon with a Fractured Femur, Sub 2:52
Rose Harvey, a 31-year-old British runner, revealed that she completed the women’s marathon at the Paris 2024 Olympics with a fractured femur, finishing 78th with a time of 2:51:03.
On August 14, Harvey shared on Instagram a photo of herself on crutches at St. Pancras International station in London, explaining that she had felt “tightness in the hip” a few weeks before the marathon on August 11.
“My team and I worked tirelessly to ensure I was fit enough to compete. We were optimistic that with a bit of race day adrenaline, I could perform at my best,” Harvey wrote. However, after just a few kilometers, she quickly realized she couldn’t perform as hoped, describing the remainder of the race as a “painful battle.” Ultimately, she finished 78th out of 80 competitors, trailing the champion, Sifan Hassan, by over 28 minutes.
Medical scans later revealed that Harvey had sustained a stress fracture in her left femur shortly after the start, forcing her to run nearly the entire 42.195 km with the injury. “In any other race, I would have stopped, as there were many moments where I felt I couldn’t continue. The downhill sections were like hell,” the 31-year-old expressed.
Despite the pain, Harvey was satisfied with her performance, even though she didn’t achieve her goals in Paris. “Most of my goals weren’t met, but there was still a small part of my Olympic dream left to chase,” she explained her determination to finish the marathon. “That was to complete the marathon at the Olympics. I kept telling myself to smile, soak up the incredible energy from the crowd, and keep moving.”
Harvey only began focusing on her running career during the Covid-19 lockdown after being laid off from her corporate law job in the music industry. She was discovered by coach Phil Kissi while running in Battersea Park, London, in 2020, and quickly progressed.
Harvey earned her spot on the British marathon team for the Paris 2024 Olympics after finishing the 2023 Chicago Marathon in 2:23:21, just 26 seconds shy of Hassan’s Olympic record in Paris.
“Competing in the Olympics is something I’ll never forget, and being able to share the race with so many wonderful friends and family means the world to me,” Harvey proudly stated. “It’s been a challenging journey, a new chapter in my life, and I’m grateful for all of it.”
The women’s marathon at Paris 2024 also witnessed another display of resilience. Bhutanese athlete Kinzang Lhamo completed the grueling course, which was described as one of the most challenging ever, with significant elevation changes, in 3:52:59. Lhamo even walked at several points but was encouraged to continue by spectators cycling and running alongside her in the final kilometers.
As Lhamo approached the finish line at Les Invalides, the entire crowd rose to their feet and gave her a standing ovation. She was the last athlete to complete the 42.195 km, finishing more than an hour and a half behind champion Sifan Hassan.
Lhamo, 26, attended Paris 2024 as Bhutan’s flag bearer in the opening ceremony and was the only female athlete among the three-member Bhutanese team.
She began running after joining the Bhutanese military. Lhamo won the Bhutan Marathon in 2023 and defended her title this year with a personal best (PB) time of 3:26. The 26-year-old also finished second in the 2022 Snowman Race, a five-day ultra marathon across the Himalayas in Chamkhar, Bumthang.
“My dream has always been to compete on such grand stages,” Lhamo said to Deutsche Welle before her Olympic debut. She set two goals for her Paris appearance: to complete the marathon and achieve a PB. Though she didn’t improve her personal best, her performance inspired fans worldwide.
Many have compared Lhamo’s determination and fighting spirit to that of John Stephen Akhwari, the former Tanzanian athlete who, despite being injured, hobbled to the finish line in the 1968 Mexico City Olympic marathon. When asked why he continued despite the pain, Akhwari famously replied, “My country did not send me 5,000 miles to start the race; they sent me to finish the race.”
