French race walker collapses, soils himself and still manages to finish in 7th place

Yohann Diniz has gained a lot of fans on the internet after collapsing mid race and allegedly having a stomach problem that caused him to soil himself.

The 50km walker and world record holder collapsed at the 35km mark after building up a commanding early lead.

Yohann Diniz goes through 15k in 1:05.58.
Matej Toth has put a 2sec gap between him and the rest in 1:06.51. pic.twitter.com/0Q24sbwkI7

— IAAF (@iaaforg) August 19, 2016

Officials helped the gritty high-school sports coach from France back to his feet but eagle-eyed viewers spotted a dark liquid running down the athlete’s legs when TV cameras zoomed in.

Yohann Diniz shat, walked, collapsed, and still finished 8th. Who was 9th?! #Rio2016 #FridayFeeling pic.twitter.com/ROysJdI4l7

— Tyler Richardson (@Ty1erRichardson) August 19, 2016

Some thought the 38-year-old sportsman had soiled himself while others claim he may have suffered an accident as they thought they could see blood.

According to French website L’Equipe, Diniz suffered stomach problems before the race but didn’t want to pull out.

50 km race walking. Fair play â Evan Dunfee (117) & Yohann Diniz (150). #Athletics #Rio2016 pic.twitter.com/z0psEkbstK

— ammattipyÃ¶rÃ¤ily (@ammattipyoraily) August 19, 2016

After his collapse, people believed that would be the end of his race but much to everyone’s surprise, Diniz pulled himself back to his feet (with help from fellow competitor Evan Dunfee of Canada) and carried on walking to finish in 7th place.

And viewers were full of praise:

World record-holder Yohann Diniz, who led most of the race, stopped, got going again, then collapsed, has incredibly finished 8th #Rio2016

— Athletics Weekly (@AthleticsWeekly) August 19, 2016

Much respect to France's Yohann #Diniz after a very difficult race walk at the #Olympics – stomach woes, collapse, still finishes 7th!

— Fran Blandy (@franblandy) August 19, 2016

The courage, balls and determination Yohann #Diniz is showing..actually unbelievable #Olympics #mens50km #Hero

— Emma Kavanagh (@Kavster34) August 19, 2016

Yohann Diniz of France deserves to hold the flag at the next opening ceremony. Dude is a champ. #racewalk #RioOlympics2016

— adrienne____elise (@Sheeg_) August 19, 2016

Yohann Diniz stopped his watch before fainting …. a true athlete

— Olive Loughnane (@OliveLoughnane) August 19, 2016

50kmwalk- these athletes are just remarkable. The heat seems unreal. #gorobheff #diniz is an absolute hero!

— Ciara Courtney (@CiaraTCourtney) August 19, 2016