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.

At the Olympics, Jamaican hurdler @ParchmentHansle accidentally showed up to the wrong venue for his race.

A young woman gave him taxi money to get to the right stadium.

He won gold.

Then, he tracked down the woman to say thank you.

It's beautiful.pic.twitter.com/rbuOX7eHm2

— Goodable (@Goodable) August 11, 2021

It gets better.

After helping Hansle Parchment win gold, the Jamaican government has invited Olympic volunteer Trijana Stojkovic on an official visit to Jamaica.

It's their way of saying thank you.#Humanity 🇯🇲🌎 pic.twitter.com/6nztLhP45t

— Goodable (@Goodable) August 12, 2021

Tijana Stojkovic, the Good Samaritan who helped 110M Hurdles gold medalist Hansle Parchment 🇯🇲 find the stadium in time for his semifinal-final race:

“This is a gift from dear Hansle.🇯🇲🌼.*
Perfect fit!

Thank you so much dear Hansle! 🥲

Your words saved me a lot…” pic.twitter.com/ogVBas9USF

— Team Jamaica (@TeamJA876) August 10, 2021