22-year-old collapses from exhaustion in the 10,000-meter race
Temperatures remain high at the women's 10,000 meters on Friday night. A Frenchwoman pushes herself to exhaustion in front of her home crowd - and collapses on the track. She doesn't seem to need to go to the hospital.
French 10,000-meter runner Alessia Zarbo collapsed during the race at the Olympics. The 22-year-old had to be treated on the track and was carried out on a stretcher while the race was still in progress. According to consistent media reports, Zarbo did not need to be taken to the hospital, and she was feeling better.
The Frenchwoman collapsed exhausted at the 8,000-meter mark in the shocked atmosphere of the Stade de France, lying breathless on the blue track. The athlete from near Nice was treated by a doctor from the French federation right on the spot as the race entered its final phase.
The race was won by world record holder Beatrice Chebet. Four days after her triumph over 5,000 meters, the Kenyan made a perfect double with her final sprint in 30:43.25 minutes. Silver went to the Italian Nadia Battocletti (30:43.55 minutes) after 25 laps in the Stade de France.
Rai Benjamin wins the giant duel
As over the 5,000 meters, there was only bronze left for Tokyo Olympic champion Sifan Hassan from the Netherlands (30:44.12). The 31-year-old now has her last chance for gold in the marathon on Sunday. Konstanze Klosterhalfen did not qualify for Paris, so there was no German runner in the race.
Later in the evening, there was a giant duel over 400 meters. In a spectacular final, Rai Benjamin dethroned world record holder Karsten Warholm. The American stormed to his first gold medal in 46.46 seconds, with the Norwegian Tokyo Olympic champion Warholm finishing in 47.06 seconds for silver. Bronze went to the Brazilian former world champion Alison dos Santos (47.26).
Benjamin celebrated his first victory over Warholm in a great race. The hurdles "Viking" could only keep up until just before the entrance to the final straight, but then had to let the 27-year-old go. The world record of 45.94 seconds that Warholm set in his gold run three years ago in Japan was not threatened. German starters Joshua Abuaku and Emil Agyekum were eliminated in the semi-finals, while Constantin Preis was already eliminated in the preliminary round.
The exhausted French athlete, who collapsed during the 10,000-meter race, hails from Paris. Despite collapsing on the track, the Parisian runner didn't require hospitalization.
Despite the high temperatures, the women's 10,000-meter race in Paris saw a strong performance from an unnamed French runner, who pushed herself to near exhaustion before collapsing on the track.
