Olympian Lamecha Girma expected a different outcome from the 3000 meter men’s steeplechase final at the 2024 Paris Olympics, after falling hard on the track.
The 23-year-old was having a good race as he ran trying to reach second place, but was cut short when his right leg got caught in his last lap jumping over a barrier on the course. This incident led the runner to land with his back on the ground and to be taken on a stretcher, which resulted in Team USA’s Kenneth Rooks to take home silver.
The Ethiopian runner’s fall was pretty nasty that he was motionless and unconcious for a couple of minutes, the International Olympic Committee stated, per The Guardian. Following his fall in the 3,000m steeplechase, Lamecha Girma received immediate care from the on-site medical teams… “Our thoughts are with him and we are sending him our very best wishes for a swift recovery. Paris 2024 is in close contact with the Ethiopian NOC to stay updated on his condition.”
In a post shared by the Elite Running Team on Instagram, it was updated that “after a full medical examination during the night, it has been confirmed that @lamechagirmaa doesn’t suffer from any major head injury. He will undergo futher scans to check his leg before being allowed to leave the hospital.”
The IOC then chimed in on the matter to share to The Guardian that he was already healing, “we understand he is in good shape and he is OK, he is recovering.”
Aside from this unfortunate incident, Lamecha holds a silver medallion from the 2021 Tokyo games and the world record in the sport. In an interview with Citius Mag, according to SportsKeeda, he shared the victorious win noting to the outlet, “I was telling the journalists there that I would break the record so I had to be thinking about breaking the record all day. In a way, that added some pressure. But because I said it aloud I knew I must do it. Then, when I broke it I was of course happy but also relieved. Because I had been talking about it so much it was like a weight had been lifted.”
