Abbey D’Agostino toed the line before the first Olympic race of her career and felt at ease. This event, on this stage, among these people — the “epitome of athletic competition,” as she calls it — wasn’t about her.
Still, as she prepared to take off, the American distance runner had her sights set on the final of the women’s 5,000 meters in Rio de Janeiro. She would have to finish in the top five of the 17 runners in her heat on Aug. 16 to get a shot at a medal three days later.
That dream seemed more attainable than ever for the first 3,200 meters of the race.
“I felt controlled. I was surprised that the pace was as slow as it was,” D’Agostino told The Post, recalling her mid-race thoughts. “Even though I was near the back of the pack, I felt like I wasn’t losing sight and I was staying aware of the moves. …
“I knew that the race was about to begin right before I fell.”
Por su gran gesto olímpico, Nikki Hamblin y Abbey D’Agostino fueron recalificadas por los jueces y avanzaron pic.twitter.com/nTk0yHTPpP
— Sebastián Amaya (@sebaamaya) August 16, 2016
The heartwarming moment that followed — D’Agostino fell to the track in a collision with another runner, Nikki Hamblin, and together they motivated each other to finish the race, despite being hurt and, by that point, way out of contention — captivated the world and came to be regarded as Rio’s defining show of Olympic spirit.
The American and New Zealander runners were featured in newspapers and on television screens across the globe, bonded by a moment of sportsmanship Hamblin can only explain as “surreal” and D’Agostino as “divine.”
“I just feel like I was an instrument — and so was Nikki — and I feel thankful that I was chosen to be a part of that,” D’Agostino said. “It wasn’t me. That’s the only way I can interpret what happened.
“It makes me smile to realize that such a positive, simple act was recognized on that scale. I think people see that and they’re drawn to it because that’s what we as humans are meant to do, and whether people are conscious of that or not, it’s just so encouraging to me. That’s who we are: love and sacrifice. That’s what we’re meant for.”
D’Agostino, 24, and Hamblin, 28, have stayed in touch in the four months since the Olympics, comparing notes on their experiences in the sports spotlight. Where D’Agostino has faded from front pages as American fans moved on to the World Series and NFL Sundays and the latest NBA highlight, Hamblin gets a bit more attention in a country where Olympic athletes are up there with their beloved rugby stars.
“This moment got so much attention. You can’t plan for that to happen,” Hamblin told The Post. “And it’s still getting attention. People still talk about it, people still tweet about it. It’s crazy.”
Hamblin recently told D’Agostino about a stranger — a retired gentleman in New Zealand — who carved each of them a wooden trophy of the Olympic Rings. Hamblin plans to ship D’Agostino her copy overseas.
“It’s really special that he made one for Abbey and one for me because it’s something that we can share together,” Hamblin said.
Still, D’Agostino’s homecoming — though far from physically glamorous as she recovers from the ACL surgery she had done three weeks after the event — has opened up opportunities she never could have imagined when she turned pro two years ago after a decorated track and cross-country career at Dartmouth.
The Topsfield, Mass., native embraced the Obamas during a celebration of Team USA at the White House, threw out the first pitch at a Red Sox game and has been invited to a range of speaking engagements. It all has expanded her perspective on what an obscure middle-distance runner can do in the world.
“I don’t think I’m any different at all, but I think my path has been made more clear about what is the purpose of this platform I have with running,” D’Agostino said. “I always thought it was about performance … but it’s also about touching lives. And I’ve always known that, but I’ve never really known how it would manifest, and so I’m just blown away.”
One second, D’Agostino was planning her winning kick. The next, she was toppling over a fallen runner at a dangerous pace, helplessly surrendering her spot in the pack with just more than a mile left.
Hamblin was sprawled on the track in front of her with her head in her hands, and D’Agostino said she suddenly was determined not to resume the race without her. She put her hand on Hamblin’s shoulder and encouraged her to get up.
“I don’t know how much longer I would’ve been lying there if Abbey hadn’t done that,” Hamblin said.
“I had no idea that I had seriously hurt myself until after I helped Nikki up,” D’Agostino said.
D’Agostino screamed out in pain as soon as she took her first few steps. Her knees buckled and she twice staggered to the track. Now it was Hamblin’s turn to help D’Agostino and urge her to fight through her agonizing knee injury to complete the final four laps.
“As soon as she was on the ground, I was like, ‘Abbey’s not going to finish this race,’ ” Hamblin said. “And I remember her saying, ‘I think it’s my knee. I think it’s broken.’ ”
D’Agostino got back up and ran a 5:50-mile split — think about that for a second — to finish the race on what she would later learn was a torn ACL, a torn meniscus and a strained MCL.
“Abbey finished the race in a way that she can be totally proud of forever,” Hamblin said.
“I think it was just so divine what went through my mind, helping her and falling again and then she helping me, having this … conviction that I was going to finish and God was going to allow me to finish,” D’Agostino said.
Both runners were granted a place in the final on appeal, but D’Agostino’s injury, which forced her to exit the stadium in a wheelchair, prevented her from running again. Hamblin finished last.
All the good will that has come out of the catastrophe gives D’Agostino faith she will fully recover in time for the 2017 IAAF World Championships next August in London, with a grander goal of making the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo.
Hamblin, who admits she “didn’t always enjoy the journey to Rio,” feeling as if her training had become “like checking boxes,” also credits the race with helping her rediscover the pride in being an Olympian.
“I always thought, ‘Unless I do well at the Olympics, have I had a good career? Can I be proud of my career?’ ” Hamblin said. “I want to go another four years because … you can’t define the rest of your life by what’s happening on the race track. I want to go another four years because I want to celebrate the small moments.”
Now 14 weeks removed from surgery, D’Agostino has started running again, ahead of schedule. She is looking forward to joining Team USA on its high-altitude training trip in January and February.
“I’m open to God’s plan and I’m along for the ride,” she said, “but I believe in my heart that the world championships and Tokyo are what are in store.”
