Katarina Johnson-Thompson refuses help after injury to cross finish line

Great Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson saw her Olympic medal hopes come to a disappointing end when she suffered an injury in the heptathlon 200 meter heat on Wednesday. She was not going to let that stop her from crossing the finish line, however.

Johnson-Thompson was in fifth position overall heading into the race, but she fell to the track in pain during the first 100 meters. Medical staff immediately rushed over to her with a wheelchair and supplies. Johnson-Thompson stayed down for a while and then got to her feet and jogged to the finish line.

After suffering an injury, Katarina Johnson-Thompson refused to be helped off the track before crossing the finish line. #TokyoOlympics pic.twitter.com/J5GVl2lrVp

— #TokyoOlympics (@NBCOlympics) August 4, 2021

Unfortunately, Johnson-Thompson was disqualified for leaving her lane. She would have come in last, anyway. That doesn’t make what she did any less admirable.

Johnson-Thompson suffered a ruptured Achilles before the Olympics and had to work her way through a long recovery to make it to Tokyo. While it’s crushing to see the journey end that way, her toughness was one of the highlights of the Olympics.