American runner loses shoe mid-race, keeps running like a hero on bloody foot

American runner Jenny Simpson lost a shoe during the 1500 meter race at Tuesday’s World Championships in Beijing. She did not stop running.

Simpson, an eight-time USA Track & Field Champion, felt the shoe start to come off midway through the race.

“(Genzebe) Dibaba went by, and about 700 meters to go, the heel of my shoe got caught by somebody and just slipped off,” she told Universal Sports. “There’s some pretty intense jostling, and that’s where I started to lose half of it. And I was clenching my toes as hard as possible just try to keep that toe box of my shoe in, and it just wouldn’t stay on. So about 600 meters to go ... I finally give up and just kick it off.”

Simpson placed 11th, behind 10 fully shod runners. It was a disappointing finish for the runner, who won a gold medal in the 1500m event four years ago. After losing the shoe, she considered dropping out of the race, in part out of concern for potential injury -- but ultimately persevered.

“There’s no way I’m not going to finish,” Simpson said afterward. “But I’m going to run as hard as I can. And as everyone ran by me, I just thought, ‘I’m going to get them next week.’”

(h/t FTW)

SB Nation video archives: When sports go horribly wrong (2012)