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Guernsey Athletics has told the story of how Alastair Chalmers trained his way from local junior meets to the Olympics.
The 24-year-old fell at the seventh hurdle in his mens' 400m hurdles semi final last night.
But he got back up and continued the race, knowing he was going to finish last.
Speaking in an Instagram story posted to his personal account a couple of hours after his semi-final he said he was "fine".
"I just got caught up racing these guys, and absolutely hit it to hurdle five and six," he said.
"That's how it goes but I'm glad I got myself up and finished so thank you to everyone for the support. It's been a massive journey and an amazing ride. I'll see you soon!"
Chalmers journey started as a young boy in Guernsey competing in school races, before representing the island at events in the UK and overseas.
Guernsey Athletics said his "athletic journey has been nothing short of inspiring".
The club called Wednesday's semi-final the biggest race of his career, following "years of hard work, dedication, and passion".
"We couldn't be prouder" wrote the club on social media.
In documenting Chalmers' sporting journey, Guernsey Athletics shared a number of photos of a young 'Ala' as he is known to his family and friends.
These included images of him hurdling at age 11 and 12 in the 2011 Junior Schools Athletics Championships and the 2012 Hampshire Track and Field Championships respectively
As he entered his teenage years, Chalmers became the under 15 60m hurdle national champion at the England Athletics Indoor Championships before representing Guernsey in the Island Games at just 15.
His first call up to a British squad came in 2016, at 16-years-old, when he was selected to run at the European Juniors in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Already the u17 national championship, by the time he turned 17 Chalmers was selected for the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas. It was at this event that Chalmers confirmed his reputation as a showman by celebrating as he crossed the line 51.22.
Further junior world events, Commonwealth Games and Island Games followed with Chalmers chipping away at his PB, getting it down to 51.10 in 2018.
In 2020 Chalmers won his first British Championship Title for the mens' 400m hurdles. He has now won that title five years running.
In 2022, he won Guernsey's first ever athletics medal at a Commonwealth Games when he came third in the 400m hurdles before representing Britain at a global meet in a senior capacity for the first time.
He exited the World Championships in Oregon in the semi-finals before following it up with gold-medal winning efforts on home soil in 2023 when the Island Games came to Guernsey.
In qualifying for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Chalmers set himself a PB of 48.54 earlier this year - also securing his fifth consecutive British Championship Title.
His best Olympic time was 48.98 seconds in his qualifying heat. His semi-final run was disrupted when he fell at the seventh hurdle but he got up and finished the race in 56.92.
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