August 12, 2021

A Jamaican hurdler got on the wrong bus and ended up at the wrong venue. With little time left, a volunteer gave him taxi fare and he made his race. Hansle Parchment went on to win the gold medal in the 110-meter hurdles. Afterwards, he tracked the volunteer and thanked her for her act of kindness.

Source: Washington Post

As a star hurdler, Jamaica’s Hansle Parchment is familiar with overcoming barriers. But he was unprepared for a different kind of obstacle: getting lost in Tokyo on the day of his Olympic race, and rapidly running out of time to get there.

The 31-year-old athlete posted a video this weekend on Instagram explaining how panic turned to hope after he met a “good Samaritan,” a volunteer working at the Games, who ultimately gave him money to take a taxi to the correct venue — where he won a gold medal in the men’s 110-meter hurdles on Aug. 5.

Parchment, gold medal in hand, went to find the stranger who had gone out of her way to help him — to thank her, he said, for helping him when he needed it the most.

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