2024 Paris Olympics

What happened to Megan Keith? Why the runner finished her race alone

Olympic fans say Team Great Britain's runner may not have won a medal, but she won the crowd.

Team Great Britain brought a heartwarming moment to the 2024 Summer Olympics.

supportive crowd at Paris' Stade de France national stadium rallied around Britain's Megan Keith as she crossed the finish line for the women's 10,000m final Aug. 9 by herself.

Keith, who was traveling behind the rest of her competitors after reportedly suffering an ankle injury, was met at the finish by teammate Eilish McColgan.

The two embraced in an emotional exchange that was caught on camera and shared across the social media.

Eilish McColgan and Megan Keith
Eilish McColgan and Megan Keith, both of Team Great Britain, react after competing in the women's 10,000-meter final on Aug. 9, 2024, in the Paris Olympics. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

One person shared on X, "Best bit of the Olympics so far, Megan Keith finishing the 10,000m Never give up What a flippen amazing thing to get to run in an Olympic final In the time I can do it, she can get round twice."

"Love how Eilish McColgan waited over two minutes on the line for team-mate Megan Keith to finish the 10,000m on her Olympics debut," another posted on X.

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Another wrote, "There’s no failure when you push yourself to the limit and it doesn’t work out. Megan Keith from Inverness is only 22 and, hopefully, has another two or three Olympics in front of her. I’m convinced Eilish McColgan told her that. I have absolute respect for both!"

"All the medals are great, but honestly this race by Megan Keith is one of the most inspirational things I’ve seen at the Olympics," one person wrote. "She was so far behind, but she never gave up. She went to race and she finished her race, and the crowd were right behind her as she did."

"What a hero, love that she did this. Keep going lady, be so proud. You had injuries, got lapped and nothing was stopping you from saying you finished!!" another commented on TikTok.

Team Great Britain called the runners’ finishes a “valiant effort,” adding that McColgan wound up in 15th position with a time of 31 minutes and 20 seconds. Meanwhile, Keith finished 23rd in 33 minutes and 19 seconds.

Ultimately, Kenya's Beatrice Chebet earned the gold with a time of 30:23:25, followed by Italy's Nadia Battocletti, who took home silver with a time of 30:43.35, and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands who won bronze with a time of 30:44.12. 

This story first appeared on TODAY.com. More from TODAY:

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