Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment's Olympic dreams were nearly dashed by a transportation mix-up, until a good Samaritan saved the day by lending the gold-medalist taxi fare to get to the right venue at the Tokyo Games.
On Thursday, the Jamaican government formally thanked the Olympic staffer, 25-year-old Tijana Kawashima Stojkovic, for her generosity with a ceremony held at the Jamaican Embassy in Minato Ward, Tokyo.
Parchment accidentally boarded the wrong bus on Aug. 4. Instead of making his way to the National Stadium to compete in the semifinals for the men's 110-meter hurdles, he found himself across town at Tokyo's Rinkai waterfront.
To get to the stadium from the Rinkai area by bus, the 31-year-old athlete would first have to return to the Olympic Village, which meant that he would probably lose out on securing enough time to warm up before the race.
But an act of kindness by Stojkovic, who happened to be nearby, got him back on track. According to a social media post recounting the mishap, Parchment asked her for some help, and she responded by giving him enough money to go by taxi.
Not only did he arrive in time to warm up, but he finished second in his semifinal.
"I was able to get to the warm up station of the stadium with enough time to warm up and compete," he said on Instagram. He later won gold on Aug. 5 in the 110-meter hurdles with his seasonal best of 13.04 seconds.
After the finals, Parchment returned to the Rinkai-area venue and found the woman. He showed her the medal and told her that he was able to reach the finals thanks to her. She was astonished. He returned the money and gifted her a Jamaican shirt.
A video post about the meeting went viral and was later shared by Jamaican Prime Minister Andrew Holness. The Jamaica Ministry of Tourism said on its Facebook account that Tourism Minister Edmund Bartlett has extended an official invitation for Stojkovic to visit the Caribbean island nation as a gesture of gratitude for her assistance.
Bartlett remotely attended the Thursday event and commended Stojkovic's actions as representative of the trademark hospitality of the Japanese people.
At the ceremony, Stojkovic said she was overwhelmed by the outpouring of gratitude, but played down her contribution, saying, "I just did what I could [to help]."
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