On Sundays I try to write about individuals who deserve our respect and admiration. Because today is the last day of the 2024 Olympics, Silina Pha Aphay of Laos is a perfect fit.
From NPR News:
It was on 8/2 during the preliminary heat of the women’s 100-meter race at the Paris Olympics. Lucia Moris of South Sudan, in Lane 1, was keeping pace after bolting from the starting blocks. But halfway through the race, she began to slow down and look unsteady, before crumpling to the ground. The fall occurred in front of Pha Aphay, who was in Lane 2.
The South Sudanese athlete laid on the purple track, unable to get back up. Even after the race ended, Moris, 23, remained on the ground alone, shrieking in pain and clutching her right thigh.
But before medics arrived, someone else rushed to her side: fellow competitor Silina Pha Aphay of Laos. The Laotian had just finished sixth, which was not high enough to advance to the next stage. And so, her time at the Olympics was over. But in that moment, Pha Aphay’s first action was to go to the distressed Moris.
Standing beside Moris, Pha Aphay called out for help. Once medics arrived, Pha Aphay continued to stay on the track, holding Moris’ sneakers while medics prepared to put Moris on a stretcher.
“All 100 meters athletes have to know how being hurt feels. And this is a big competition. It’s a big dream to come here. But you get hurt here. So everybody knows the feeling,” Pha Aphay later told the Washington Post.
On 8/2/24 Pha Aphay’s Olympic medal hopes were dashed, but in her moment of extreme disappointment, she rose above the others and offered consolation to her downed fellow competitor, Lucia Moris of South Sudan.
Pha Aphay did not win any medal, but in my mind she came in first place!
8/11/24