Nightmare at the Paris Olympics: World record holder crashed hard during the race
Andrey Shitikhin August 8, 2024, 09:35 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
There is still no reliable information on the status of Lamecha Girma.
The beautiful victory of Moroccan Soufyan El-Bakkali in the 3000m hurdles at the Paris Olympics was overshadowed by the terrible fall of his main rival. With 200 metres to go, Ethiopian Lameha Girma touched the barrier with his right foot and fell backwards onto the track at high speed. The athlete lost consciousness and did not move, while his opponents ran around him or jumped over him.
Girma holds the world record in steeplechase. The highest world record was set on June 9, 2023 at the Diamond League stage in Paris, covering the distance in 7:52.11. He overthrew the world record of Qatari Saif Shaheen, which had stood for 19 years.
Ethiopian Girma broke a long-standing world athletics record:
Ethiopian Lameha Girma breaks world record in steeplechase
But at the major tournaments, Girma always finished second. This was the case at the Tokyo Olympics and also at the World Championships. He was unable to do anything against the Moroccan El-Bakkali, who showed an impeccable streak right at the main starts.
The 23-year-old Ethiopian flew to Paris to beat the Moroccan. And in the final he did everything possible to achieve this. On the last lap, Girma and El-Bakkali started to accelerate, pushed each other a bit and ran after the American Kenneth Rooks, who suddenly turned on turbo mode two laps before the finish and pulled away from everyone else.
Girma seemed to have chosen a convenient position to attack the American, but at the third barrier of the finish something terrible happened. He did not have time to raise his right leg, he touched the barrier and crashed backwards onto the track at high speed. He had no contact with his opponents: the Ethiopian fell alone. While the medal match was taking place, Lamecha lay motionless. As it turned out, he was unconscious too.
Photo: Frame from the broadcast.
Photo: Frame from the broadcast.
Photo: Frame from the broadcast.
The Ethiopian was immediately evacuated to hospital, secured on a stretcher. For a long time there was no information about his condition. The Paris 2024 organizing committee issued a brief statement: “Following Lameha Girma’s fall, medical assistance was immediately provided on the spot. Our thoughts are with him and we wish him a speedy recovery. The Organizing Committee is in close contact with the Ethiopian NOC regarding the athlete’s condition.”
Lamecha Girma
Photo: From Eabise Ngelethu staff
But there was no further news until Ethiopian national athletics coach Eabisa Negese Geletu posted a photo on social media from the hospital, where Girma lies on a bed in her national team uniform, with her tracksuit revealingly unbuttoned so that the inscription “Ethiopia” on her shirt is visible.
Negese wrote: “Girma is being restored. The Ethiopian team visited him in the hospital.” Before this, referring to coach Teshome Kebede, he said that the athlete’s life was not in danger, but that he would need time to recover. There has not yet been any further information about the world record holder.
