The female marathon runner Kinzang Lhamo of Bhutan received cheers and motivation from the crowd as they encouraged her to finish the race in the women's marathon at the Paris Olympics 2024 on Sunday, August 11.
Kinzang Lhamo was the last to finish the marathon but it took her more than 90 minutes to reach the finishing line after the gold medalist Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands. What caught the attention was her Olympic spirit and never-say-attitude as Lhamo was determined enough to complete the race rather than giving up despite being significantly behind the leaders.
However, Kinzang Lhamo was not alone as he received loud cheers and encouragement from the crowd, who wanted her to finish the race. In the video that went viral on social media, Lhamo was seen taking a slow walk due to tired before running while the crowd was seen cheering her with chants and applause. Spectators even ran alongside her behind the barriers to offer her the support as she was approaching the finishing.
In another video, Kinzang Lhamo was seen entering the home stretch of the women's marathon and the crowd gave a huge applause to the Bhutan marathoner. It's a long tradition that the runner who finished the last in the marathon often received the loudest cheers.
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Kinzang Lhamo finished her race in 3:52:59s, which is more than 1 hour and 30 minutes that the first-placed finish Sifan Hassan, who completed her race in an Olympic record timing of 2:22:55s to clinch her maiden Olympic gold medal in Marathon.
Ethiopia's Tigst Assefa finished second with a timing of 2:22:58 to secure her maiden Olympic medal with silver, while Hellen Obiri of Kenya took home the bronze medal after finishing race in 2:23:10.
Who is Kinzang Lhamo?
Kinzang Lhamo is a well-known marathoner in Bhutan. The 26-year-old specialises in ultra-marathon, where the runner has to run across the mountains, often covering the distance far greater than traditional marathon.
At the 2022 Showman race, Kingzang Lhamo finished second in 5-day ultra-marathon across the Himalayan mountains in Bumthang District of Bhutan. In 2024, the 26-year-old defended her title at the 10th edition of the Bhutan International Marathon with her personal best timing of 3 hours and 26 minutes,
Lhamo qualified for the Paris Olympics after she was awarded to universality place to represent Bhutan at the biggest quadrennial multi-sport event in the France's capital. She was the only athlete from Bhutan to have participated at the recently edition of the Olympics.
Apart from being a professional marathoner, Kinzang Lhamo also serves in the Royal Bhutanese Army as a soldier and is stationed at the district of Haa in the west of the country.
