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Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment tracked down and thanked a Tokyo 2020 volunteer who paid for his taxi to the Olympic stadium, where he went on to win a gold medal.
Parchment told the story in a video posted to social media last weekend, which ended with a meeting with the volunteer, whom he called Tiana. He thanked her, showed her the gold medal, gave her a Jamaican Olympic jersey and paid her back the money she had loaned.
“You were instrumental in my making the final that day,” he told her before posing for a picture.
Tiana’s biggest prize may not yet come: The Sunday Gleaner reported that Jamaica’s tourism minister intended to host her on a trip to the Caribbean island.
“No matter where she is in the world, we want to reciprocate one of our own,” Jamaican Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett told The Sunday Gleaner.
Parchment was worried about missing last Thursday’s 110m hurdles final when he got the wrong coach and ended up in what he believes is one of the aquatic venues. All official Tokyo 2020 cars were reserved and taking a bus back to the Olympic Village and then another to the stadium would have left him struggling to take the start of the final.
“If I had done that, I wouldn’t even be there in time to warm up. I had to find another way. I was trying to get one of the brand cars for the Games, but these people are very strict and play by the rules, and I would have to book the car in advance to get it going, ”he said. . on the video posted on social networks.
That’s when he saw Tiana. “I saw this volunteer and had to beg, because of course she is not allowed to do much, and she actually gave me money to take one of the taxis. . And that’s how I was able to get to the warm-up on time and had enough time to compete, ”Parchment said in the video he posted on social media.
Parchment won bronze at the 2012 Olympics, but missed the Games in 2016 due to injury. The 31-year-old only finished third in the Jamaican Trials for Tokyo and failed to win either his qualification or semi-final en route to the final. However, once there he beat a high quality field with a season best time of 13.04 seconds to win the Olympic title.
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