Who was the most inspirational runner from the Olympics?

The men's triathlon.

Not just the winner, but all of the top finishers gave absolutely everything they had coming in.

That is what you wanted the finish of every race to be.

Dolemite wrote:

Simone Biles.

The way she ran away from competing was inspiring to millions of losers.

LOL

ostersund wrote:

I’m going to say one of the refugee country athletes. There was a kid in the 800 heats that was absolutely stoked to be there. He finished dfl, but freaking leaned at the line. I love that.

Totally agree. It’s fairly difficult to compare the refugee athletes from those who have sponsors, training groups, and tons of other supports—the original question of the post was inspiring and to me, nothing is more inspiring than people overcoming oppression, trauma, and every other card stacked against them to go out and put it on the line.

BeevieB wrote:

Molly Seidel because of her backstory and because of the amount of time she just hung in there and hung in there. I was glued to the race for the last hour.

Gotta say Frerichs was pretty inspirational with the way she said 'f--- it, I'm going for it.'

I somewhat disagree with Frerichs. The rest of the field looked like they were running backwards through mud. I didn’t find her performance all that inspiring, I think she hit the jackpot with the weather.

I waited on this...but to me, the true inspiration was Lageeye in the marathon.

When you choose to have a friend, former teammate or associate go with you by your volition, you're a hero no matter what...

Lageeye did that for Abdi like Blankenship did for Centro years ago.

"Let's do this, over I'll do this..." Is the Olympic spirit .

So...Lageeye...

Stoppit Smith wrote:

I waited on this...but to me, the true inspiration was Lageeye in the marathon.

When you choose to have a friend, former teammate or associate go with you by your volition, you're a hero no matter what...

Lageeye did that for Abdi like Blankenship did for Centro years ago.

"Let's do this, over I'll do this..." Is the Olympic spirit .

So...Lageeye...

Correction: Nageeye...not Lageeye

Oops.

Wow, yes.

Femke Bol actually ran a track meet.

She contributed to her team effort, set national records and won individual honors.

She didn’t always win, but she ran her tail off.

I think if you wanted to have lunch with one track athlete,

I’d love to sit down with her and listen to her thoughts.

f) None of the above. I'll hop on the Seidel bandwagon - her run was inspirational.

If I had to pick from the list provided, Kipchoge hands down. GOAT

Alison dos Santos was pretty inspiring.

Athing Mu: For giving me hope that the doped 800m WR can finally be wiped clean.

Andre deGrass: What a big time performer!

Paul Chelimo: This guy is a killer! Exactly what T&F needs.

Kipchoge: The BOSS.

Femke Bol: What a talent! With a bit of technical improvements, she will be right up there with the Americans.

Botswana sprinting: Acccomplished so much with so little!

Molly Seidel hands down. Exceeded all expectations on all levels on top of this being a major comeback.

hassan tripping and falling then getting up to win her heat

If she didnt try and qualify she could still run the 5k and 10k and conceivably win, but she decided at that moment, she wanted to compete in the 1500 as well - even if it meant going all out to win her heat (not something she want planning to do). She could have put her entire triple in danger from exterting herself too hard but she went for it anyways

thats something that actually inspires me, meanwhile half our US team almost didnt even make the finals because she let up too hard in prelims. brommel let up so hard he didnt even make it (lyles was very close too....)

Warholm crushing Benjamin's spirit, hopes, and dreams.

Iron Bars wrote:

Athing Mu: For giving me hope that the doped 800m WR can finally be wiped clean.

Andre deGrass: What a big time performer!

Paul Chelimo: This guy is a killer! Exactly what T&F needs.

Kipchoge: The BOSS.

Femke Bol: What a talent! With a bit of technical improvements, she will be right up there with the Americans.

Botswana sprinting: Acccomplished so much with so little!

Bol was right up there with USA, Dos Santos is another one to watch!

Pat Tiernan

No question about it, lad ran himself into the ground, literally, in the 10000m. Potentially stupid for his longevity, but still inspirational to see someone give absolutely everything.

the runner from the solomon islands.she ran the marathon in around 3 hours.

Just Another Hobby Jogger wrote:

She is not a "runner" but Mariya Lasitskene was the most inspiring athlete in track and field.

She was denied her chance in 2016 when she was unbeatable. Then Ukrainians caught up. One year delay worked against her given their age difference. Then she had a shaky start early in this season.

What should have been certainty five years ago looked in serious doubt. And then she missed two attempts at 1.96 and her back was against the wall. But that was just one more obstacle she had to overcome. Her reaction to clearing 2.02 and 2.04 was priceless. And after clinching the gold medal, she showed more emotion than she did in the previous six years combined.

She should have been a two time Olympic champion, but I am glad at least she finally got one.

+1

1. Su Bingtian (That Semi-final was amazing and you knew he put his all into it with his scream at the end!)

2. Karsten Warholm

3. Rohan Browning (Winning that sprint heat and being the first Aussie to do so in a long time was amazing)

4. Sifan hassan

5. Eliud Kipchoge

6. Jakob Ingebritsen

7. Lamont marcel Jacobs (Wether you like it or not Smashing his PB three times consecutively during the Olympics is no easy feat!)

Also Erriyon Knighton was exciting to watch just to speculate the future of the Sprints