Kinzang Lhamo, a marathon-runner from Bhutan, received the loudest cheers from the Paris crowd as she crossed the line in the women’s marathon event at the Paris Olympics 2024. But she wasn’t the winner. Nor the runner-up. Not even the bronze medalist. In fact, the 26-year-old Lhamo finished last. Not just by a small margin either; Lhamo finished nearly an hour and a half after marathon winner Sifan Hassan had crossed the line. Netherlands’ Sifan Hassan had smashed the Olympic women’s marathon record with a time of 2 hours 22 minutes 55 seconds. But that wasn’t enough to get the biggest applause of the day.
Watch: Kinzang Lhamo earns the Parisian applause
#Marathon motion et immense soutien de la foule pour Lhamo Kinzang (Bhoutan) qui termine pieds, mais se remet courir juste la fin pour le tapis bleu. Cest a aussi les jeux ! Respect
pic.twitter.com/lgatHLjbjS
— Noélie Viallet Studio Noélie (@NoElieViAllet) August 11, 2024
In a great example of the famed ‘Olympic spirit’, the Paris crowd stood and applauded the Bhutanese runner. Her perseverance and will was given full marks by the crowd, as she did not give up despite comfortably running last.
“My first goal is to complete the marathon,” Lhamo had said before the Olympics, as reported by the Guardian. And she was not going to let that goal slip.
Lhamo is the only female member of Bhutan’s Paris Olympics 2024 team, and was also her nation’s flag bearer during the opening ceremony.
Despite 11 runners not finishing the race, Lhamo kept her determination right up to the very end. Her finishing time was 3 hours 52 minutes 59 seconds – just over 90 minutes after Hassan had won the race.
After Hassan, Ethiopia’s Tigst Assefa came second to clinch silver, just three seconds behind Hassan. Kenya’s Hellen Obiri narrowly beat compatriot Sharon Lokedi to bronze, with just four seconds separating them in the end.
Hassan’s gold helped the Netherlands leapfrog Great Britain in the Olympics medal table, as they finished on 15 gold medals to Britain’s 14. Netherlands, thereby, finish Paris 2024 on sixth spot, with Britain in seventh.
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