No guts, no glory, right? If you’re going to lay it all out on the line, what better time than the Olympics. This is an incredible story and I tip my hat to him.

Thursday evening, long after the USA had qualified in morning heats with Mitchell running the leadoff leg, USA Track and Field announced that Mitchell had broken his left fibula halfway through the race.

“Three days ago I was going up the stairs, and I kind of missed one and landed awkwardly. I got treatment, and I was fine. I did workouts, and when I warmed up today I felt really well. I felt I could go 44 (seconds)-low. I got out pretty slow, but I picked it up and when I got to the 100-meter mark it felt weird. I was thinking I just didn’t feel right. As soon as I took the first step past the 200-meter mark, I felt it break. I heard it. I even put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear it. I wanted to just lie down. It felt like somebody literally just snapped my leg in half.

“I knew if I finished strong we could still get it (the baton) around. I saw (teammate) Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me. I didn’t want to let those three guys down, or the team down, so I just ran on it. It hurt so bad. I’m pretty amazed that I still split 45 seconds on a broken leg.”