Britain’s Rose Harvey finished 78th in the women’s marathon at the Paris Olympics, out of 91 competitors and 80 finishers.
For some, that might have been a disappointing result. In Harvey’s case, it was one of the most remarkable performances of the Olympics.
This is because it was revealed after the race that Harvey had crossed the finish line with a stress fracture in his femur. According to the BBCHe had started the day with a hip injury, which did not help Perhaps the most demanding course ever designed for a major marathon..
Given the series of ups and downs that Paris has had, it’s a miracle that Harvey finished at all, let alone that he did it in under three hours, with a time of 2:51:03. According to the BBC:
“It was really tough. It was a really, really tough day. I knew about three kilometres in that my hip was going to hurt a lot. The hills didn’t help at all, the downhills were agony and it just got worse and worse. Halfway through, I knew it was going to be incredibly painful.
“I’m not really sure how I did it today because I can’t put any weight on my leg.”
Harvey reportedly had treatment on his hip before the Olympics but was told that running the marathon would make it worse. There were no Great Britain reserves to take his place in the race so he decided to give it a go.
She credited her friends, her family and her own anxiety to finish the project:
“Having so many friends and family there means a lot to me to have that support. My fiancé Charlie was there and seeing him in so many places kept me going. Every mile I ran, I was thinking, ‘Okay, just run to Charlie, run when I can see him again, when I can see my friends and family again. ‘ The crowds were incredible and I think the other big thing is that I knew deep down that if I stopped, I would always wonder, ‘What if I could have run one more mile? ‘ I wouldn’t have been able to live with that.
“In any other race I would have stopped, because I couldn’t run like I normally do… and the pain was really strong, but I had to get to the finish line, I had to do the Olympic marathon.”
Dutchwoman Sifan Hassan won the gold medal in the marathon, with an Olympic record time of 2:22:55. Harvey now walks with crutches, which could be a problem as her wedding is in three weeks:
“My biggest challenge is not having to use crutches for the wedding, but we’ll see. At this rate, it might be Charlie who walks down the aisle.”
Even a healthy Harvey would have been an unusual presence at the marathon, as the 31-year-old only began running in elite competitions four years ago. Before that, she worked as a corporate lawyer while enjoying running as a hobby.
After being laid off in 2020, Harvey began training for a triathlon and kept going, eventually achieving a personal best time at the Chicago Marathon that qualified her for Paris.