U.S. Olympian sprinter Manteo Mitchell breaks leg during relay….and continues running

American sprinter Manteo Mitchell broke his leg while competing in the men’s 4×400 meter relay today in London.

The 25-year-old athlete was half way round the truck when his snapped his leg.

Instead of pulling out of the race, Mitchell continued to run to his teammate on his injured leg.

Mitchell told a reporter he got a very slow start but when he eventually picked up speed he noticed something felt weird with his leg.

“I got out pretty slow,” the Olympian said.  “But I picked up and when I got to the 100 meter mark it felt weird.  As soon as I took the first step past the 200-meter mark, I felt it break.  I heard it.”

He said he “put out a little war cry, but the crowd was so loud you couldn’t hear it.”

Mitchell said “I knew if I finished strong we could still get it [the baton] around.  He said his spirits were lifted when he saw teammate “Josh Mance motioning me in for me to hand it off to him, which lifted me.”

He said he didn’t want to let his teammates down so he “ran on it….It hurt so bad.”

Because of Mitchell’s true TEAM spirit the U.S made to tomorrow’s final.

An X-ray later revealed he had broken his left fibula bone.