Dabo helps Busby

The gold medal for sportsmanship went to Braima Suncar Dabo, the 5,000-meter runner from Guinea-Bissau who stopped his own race to help a struggling competitor finish Friday night.

Guinea-Bissau’s Braima Dabo held up an exhausted Jonathan Busby and together they staggered around the last turn and over the finish line to great applause, even though the other runners had crossed 5 minutes earlier. Busby, from Aruba, collapsed onto the track and was placed in a wheelchair by medical staff.

“Any athlete in that situation would do the same thing,” Dabo said through a translator.

“It was something normal to do, to help someone from another country, because (Busby) was representing his country as well.” All Busby said was “thank you,” Dabo added.

Both Busby and Dabo are the only athletes from their nations at the world championships. Both men competed under special invitations that allow countries without strong track programs to send one athlete to the championships, even if that athlete has not met qualifying standards.