DOHA, Qatar – As seven women crossed the finish line, English Gardner lay face-down in Lane Five. Halfway through the 100-meter semifinal, she had grabbed her right hamstring and fallen to the ground.
The former University of Oregon sprinter had been on a comeback from a series of leg injuries, which she hoped she had put behind her. But she exited the IAAF World Outdoor Track and Field Championships with her head in her hands and without achieving her goal of making the 100-meter final.
U.S. teammate Morolake Akinosun, who ran in the same heat, walked back to comfort Gardner as officials helped her onto a wheelchair.
“English is my friend and we’ve been on a similar injury path, so it was heartbreaking to see my teammate go down like that, my friend go down like that,” said Akinosun. “I just told her you got to get up and that she’d be OK.”
Eventual silver medalist Dina Asher-Smith of Great Britain, also in the same heat, walked back to be with Gardner, as well.
“Even though we are all competitors and we do compete against each other, it’s not nice seeing your friend in pain,” said Asher-Smith. “I feel like I definitely understand her injury having come from being on a similar track with my foot around about the same time.”
Since winning gold in the 400-meter relay at the 2016 Rio Olympics, Gardner has struggled with a series of leg injuries.
In 2017, she tore her ACL for the second time and missed the London worlds. In February 2019, she suffered a grade two hamstring tear and only managed to race twice before this year’s U.S. championships.
Gardner still qualified for worlds and placed second in her preliminary race on Saturday to make the semifinal.
After Saturday’s prelim, Gardner did express concern about her surgically-repaired leg.
“I can say that coming back from an ACL, it’s never the knee. It’s always everything else around it,” she said. “My quad’s been a little finicky; my hamstrings are a little finicky. I just need a little bit of extra tender loving care.”
