KARACHI: US sprinter Manteo Mitchell broke his leg during relay heat but managed to finish helping his team advance to the finals.
The 25-year-old 200 and 400 meters runner ran the first leg of America’s heat in the London Olympic stadium and finished with no apparent sign of pain he was feeling.
“I felt it break. I heard it. I even put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn't hear it,” Mitchell said.
“I didn't want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it. It hurt so bad,” he added.
Mitchell’s decision to complete the run allowed US to race to a joint finish with the Bahamas in identical times of 2 minutes 58.87 seconds and qualify for the 4x400 final.
After the race doctors diagnosed Mitchell with a complete break of the left fibula and said the bone would heal in four to six weeks.
US, one of the favorites for gold, will name their final line-up on Friday.
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