Rio de Janeiro, Aug 17 (IANS): The Olympics is all about competing against each other with the cheers reserved only for the winners. But two sprinters, despite finishing last are being hailed far beyond the running track for their display of sportsmanship.

New Zealand runner Nikki Hamblin and American runner Abbey D'Agostino collided on the track during the women's 5,000-meter event.

Refusing to quit, D'Agostino ran the rest of the race hobbling with an ankle injury, while Hamblin stayed by her side to help her continue.

Seemingly sacrificing any chance at an Olympic medal, they helped each other reach the finish line.

The pair embraced at the finish, before D'Agostino was taken from the track in a wheelchair.

The pictures of the duo picking each other up, urging and pushing each other to the finish and their embrace after the end of the race, have been widely shared online with people across the globe hailing the twin sporting heroes.

"When someone asks me what happened in Rio in 20 years' time, that is my story," Hamblin said after the race.