A runner for Team USA beat his personal best time by nine seconds as he nearly pulled off a massive upset in a race he was never supposed to be in contention for, but settled for a silver medal after his impressive surge on the last lap put the competition on notice.
Kenneth Rooks was not considered a frontrunner in the men's 3000m steeplechase on Wednesday, with bigger names in the sport thought to be favorites for the medal, such as defending Olympic gold medalist Soufiane El Bakkali, of Morocco, and Ethiopia's Lamecha Girma, who owns the world record for the race.
Rooks stayed toward the middle of the lead pack of runners for much of the race, but just before the final lap was set to start, he started moving up the field. During that last time around the track, Rooks opened up a sizeable lead over the rest of the competition, with a little more than half of a lap to go.
The other leaders of the race — El Bakkali, Girma and Kenya's Abraham Kibiwott — were able to make up a good amount of ground on the far straightaway, but then the scariest moment of the race occurred.
Girma was helping lead the charge to catch Rooks, but before the turn, his right foot caught the top of the hurdle and sent him crashing to the ground. The back of his head hit the track hard, and he stayed down on the ground as the other competitors passed by him.
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Girma, the reigning Olympic silver medalist, didn't finish the race. He was stretchered off following the race, according to the NBC broadcast, and may have lost consciousness.
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Meanwhile, Rooks maintained his lead entering the backstretch, but was caught by El Bakkali. But he did fight off Kibiwott by just six-hundredths of a second to earn a surprising silver medal in his first Olympics.
