TOKYO -- Steeplechaser Tim Van de Velde looked behind him and saw a fellow competitor gingerly crawling over the final barrier on a 3,000-meter journey that went terribly wrong for both.

The Belgian's hopes for a top finish already long crushed, he turned around, put an arm around a stumbling Carlos San Martin and helped him limp in to the finish.

That show of sportsmanship Saturday between the 10th- and 11th-place finishers in an otherwise routine qualifying race might have been the highlight of a busy opening night at track and field world championships, even on a day when five gold medals were handed out.

"I saw him stumbling and thought, 'Why not?'" Van de Velde said. "We both had bad luck, I guess. Maybe we can share some bad luck together."

Van de Velde was racing in front as the

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