Feel good Friday: Jamaican hurdler tracks down volunteer who paid his way to gold
Jamaican 110m hurdler Hansle Parchment narrowly avoided embarrassment thanks to a volunteer who gave him money for a taxi after he accidentally traveled to an aquatics arena instead of Tokyo’s Olympic Stadium on the day of his race at the recent Tokyo Olympics.
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And now Parchment has gone viral after tracking down the woman, repaying her for the cab – and showing her the gold medal she helped him win the following day.
“I saw this volunteer and I had to beg… and she actually gave me some money to take one of the taxis. And that’s how I was able to get to the warm-up track at the stadium and with enough time to warm up to compete,” he said in a video recorded during the Games, which has attracted global attention.
“You were instrumental in me getting to the final that day,” he told the volunteer after locating her.
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Parchment finished second in his semi-final behind the United States’ Grant Holloway but went one better by claiming a surprise gold medal in the final to bag one of only four gold medals (and nine in total) won by the Caribbean nation in Japan.
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The volunteer’s small act of kindness was praised by Jamaica’s Prime Minister, Andrew Holness, who shared the video on Twitter and wrote: “Every Jamaican knows that gratitude is a must. @ParchmentHansle demonstrates that perfectly here.”
And the country’s Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has invited the woman to visit Jamaica, he told local newspaper The Gleaner.
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