Team GB star Rose Harvey remarkably completed the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics in under three hours despite suffering a fractured leg during the race.
The 31-year-old, who is now on crutches, completed the race in a time of 2:51:03, finishing 78th on the leaderboard as Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan took gold in the event.
The British runner, whose personal best time in the Marathon came last year when she posted a time of 2:23:21 in Chicago, USA, is also due to get married in three weeks to her fiance Charlie Thuillier.
The Olympian had started the race with some tightness in her hip, before realising only a couple of miles into the race that it was going to be 'incredibly painful.'
In fact, Harvey, who did not give up, completed the race and was later diagnosed with a stress fracture in her femur.
Team GB marathon runner Rose Harvey has returned to London on a pair of crutches following the Paris Olympic Games after breaking her leg
Harvey is also due to marry her fianceCharlie Thuillier in three weeks time and is hoping to make it down the isle without a pair of crutches
Remarkably, the 31-year-old fractured her femur during the women's marathon, but would continue to finish the race in under three hours
Posting a picture of herself returning from Paris on a pair of crutches, the British Olympian revealed that the experience had left her 'heartbroken' but despite the 'incredible pain', was still determined to 'put one foot in front of the other' to finish the race.
'A couple of miles in, I quickly realised that wasn’t going to happen. The next 24 miles were a painful battle,' the 31-year-old, wrote on her Instagram.
'It turns out I had stress fractured my femur,' Harvey, a former corporate lawyer, added.
'In any other race, I would have stopped and there were so many moments when I thought I couldn’t take another step. The downhills were hell.
'But despite most of my race goals having slipped away, there was still a tiny part of my Olympic dream that I could hang onto - and that was finishing the Olympic marathon. I couldn’t give up. I kept telling myself to smile, soak up the energy of the incredible crowds and just put one foot in front of the other.'
'It was heartbreaking,' she added. 'But being part of the Olympics is something I’ll never forget and being able to share the race with so many of my amazing friends and family meant the world to me.'
She took to Instagram to post a picture of herself in crutches and stated in a caption that she was 'heartbroken' at having sustained the injury
Harvey sensationally still finished 78th in the women's marathon on Sunday, but said the injury had been 'incredibly painful'
The former corporate lawyer has had a meteoric rise over the past four years, having been made redundant from her job in the City during the Covid-19 pandemic
'In any other race, I would have stopped and there were so many moments when I thought I couldn’t take another step,' she said
Harvey said she was spurred on to finish the race by her soon-to-be husband and founder of an ice-cream company, Thuillier, who had stepped down as head of Oppo to help her train
After being made redundant, Harvey started entering in triathlons and was later spotted by a coach
She is also Britains fifth-fastest female marathon runner, having clocked up a record time at the Chicago marathon last year
Harvey also confirmed to the British news outlet that she is currently unable to put any weight through her leg.
Harvey had received treatment for her hip injury prior to the Paris marathon and had been advised by doctors that competing in the race could be a risk.
'The Olympic energy was kind of what kept me going to that finish line,' the 31-year-old distance runner told the BBC. She added that the though that the thought of her fiance, Charlie, also pushed her onwards.
'Every mile, I just thought "right, just run to Charlie, run to when I can see him next."'
With three weeks to go until their wedding, the former corporate Lawyer admitted that she now has a new challenge to overcome.
'My big challenge is to hopefully be off crutches for the wedding but we will see,' she told the BBC. 'It might be Charlie walking down the aisle at this rate!'
Thuillier is also the founder of hip ice cream brand Oppo who are known for producing tasty low-calorie desserts. He had stepped down from his role at the company to help his fiancee train.
Harvey's story is a remarkable one. Just four years ago during the Covid-19 pandemic, the 31-year-old, a financial lawyer, had been made redundant from her job.
Living in Clapham in south London at the time, she was handed three months of gardening leave and decided to train for a triathlon.
'I was nowhere near contemplating that I could go to the next Olympics. I still kind of felt very new in the sport,' Harvey said on her meteoric rise
'This was far from the Olympics I dreamed of, but still an experience of a lifetime,' she added on Instagram.
'I'd gone from working all hours to literally having nothing to do, all this time at home, and I realised that work had become my entire life,' she said.
'It pushed me to do something quite radical, I had this awesome opportunity and wanted to do something cool with it.'
She would subsequently return to work as a consultant, but her rapid race times were quickly noticed by many in the running industry - with Harvey landing herself a sponsorship deal with athletic brand PUMA.
'I was nowhere near contemplating that I could go to the next Olympics. I still kind of felt very new in the sport. It's pretty ruthless as you're only as good as your last race,' she had previously said to The Times.
Harvey was spotted by a coach, Phil Kissi, while training in Battersea Park. Impressed by her natural skill, he took her on and began to train her
Her meteoric rise to the 2024 Paris Olympics is an inspiring journey, with Harvey also being the fifth fastest British female marathon runner of all time following her time at the Chicago marathon after turning pro in 2022.
'This was far from the Olympics I dreamed of, but still an experience of a lifetime,' she added on Instagram.
