British runner Harvey ran the Olympic marathon... with a fractured leg!

The dream of running and finishing an Olympic marathon is so powerful that it often pushes athletes to their limits. British runner Rose Harvey revealed that she completed the Olympic marathon with a stress fracture in her femur: she finished in 78th place, with a time of 2:51:03.

The marathoner, who had felt hip stiffness in the days leading up to the race, itted that 'it was far from the Olympic Games I had dreamed of, but it was still a once-in-a-lifetime experience.' The British athlete started the marathon, the final athletics event of these Games, but after just a few kilometers, she began to realize something was wrong. 'My team and I were optimistic that with a bit of adrenaline, I could run the race I knew I had in me,' she explained. 'But after three or four kilometers, I quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. The remaining kilometers were a painful battle. It turned out I had a stress fracture in my femur.'

Downhills were like hell. However, there was still a small part of my Olympic dream that I could hold on to: finish the marathon

Rose Harvey, marathonian

'In any other race, I would have stopped, and there were many moments when I thought I couldn't take another step,' said the 31-year-old runner, who is set to get married in three weeks. 'The downhills were hell. But even though most of my race goals had vanished, there was still a small part of my Olympic dream that I could hold on to: finishing the Olympic marathon.'

Thus, the British athlete managed to cross the finish line, where more than half an hour earlier, Dutch runner Sifan Hassan had claimed victory. 'I couldn't give up. I kept telling myself to smile, absorb the energy of the incredible crowd, and put one foot in front of the other. It was heartbreaking, but being part of the Games is something I will never forget, and being able to share the race with so many wonderful friends and family meant so much to me.