American runner Kate Grace has kept her Paris Olympics dream alive despite a nasty fall during her heat at the track and field trials on Monday morning (AEST).
Grace produced a miraculous finish in her 800m semi-final to qualify automatically for the final. Grace was trailing in third place in the closing stages but surged past Michael Rose on the line to come second behind Athing Mu.
WATCH THE VIDEO ABOVE: Kate Grace suffers nasty fall at the finish line.
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However, as she went past Rose the pair collided and Grace lost her footing and tripped over the railing before falling to the ground and smashing into the clock on the side of the track.
She remained on the ground for several seconds as other competitors ran past before she was able to get to her feet with no serious injuries.
Mu won with a time of 1:58.84, ahead of Grace in 1:58.97 and Rose in 1:59.00 with all three qualifying for the final.
Grace suffered some grazes and scratches, but shrugged off the incident afterwards.
“I didn’t hit my head or anything. I came down hard on my arms and my legs and my hip but my head is what we care about the most,” Grace said.
“Everything was honest. A lot of us trying to get to the line. If it hadn’t been the thing (rail) right there, maybe I wouldn’t have fallen but there’s just a ton of stuff right there on the infield. So you kind of have nowhere to go.”
Rose said Grace was a “tough cookie” before revealing the pair spoke after the race.
“She seemed fine. She’s like, ‘Good job. I hope you make the final’.”
Grace is bidding to make her second Olympics team, eight years after finishing eighth in the 800m final at Rio.
She missed out at the Tokyo Olympics after finishing seventh in the Olympic trials.
The 35-year-old gave birth to her first son River in March last year.