Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

High school student carries collapsed marathoner to victory

Self

Nathan Hunsinger / The Dallas Morning News via AP

In this Sunday, Dec. 10, 2017, photo, Ariana Luterman, 17, back, helps Chandler Self, center, at the finish line during the BMW Dallas Marathon in Dallas, as Shalane Flanagan, four-time Olympian, left, watches.

DALLAS — In just 24 hours, her face and name have become world famous for what's seen as a supreme act of sportsmanship.

Dallas-area high school student Ariana Luterman was finishing the anchor leg of a girls' relay in Sunday's Dallas Marathon when she saw the legs of the women's marathon leader, Chandler Self, start to buckle from exhaustion yards from the finish line.

Acting apparently instinctively, Luterman helped Self to her feet and half-carried her to the finish line, giving the New York City psychiatrist the women's championship. Self's family later told her she'd been credited with the win.

Self said Luterman came alongside her two miles from the finish and encouraged her to finish the race. Video of the finish has gone viral.