22-year-old collapses from exhaustion in the 10,000-meter race
Temperatures remain high at the women's 10,000 meters on Friday evening. A Frenchwoman fights until exhaustion in front of her home crowd - and collapses on the track. She does not appear 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 her condition has since improved.
The Frenchwoman collapsed exhausted at the 8,000-meter mark in the shocked atmosphere of the Stade de France and lay gasping on the blue track. The athlete from near Nice was treated by a doctor from the French federation at the scene 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 Olympics 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 finale, American Rai Benjamin stormed to his first gold medal in 46.46 seconds, beating world record holder Karsten Warholm. The Norwegian Tokyo Olympics champion could only keep up until just before the entrance to the home straight, but had to let Benjamin go. The world record of 45.94 seconds set by Warholm 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 eliminated in the preliminary round.
The Olympic Games 2024 in Paris will undoubtedly be a highlight for French athletes, with events like the 10,000 meters potentially drawing large home crowds. Alessia Zarbo, despite her exhausting race and collapse during the women's 10,000 meters, showed resilience and did not require hospitalization.
