Plymouth's own Morgan Uceny was running for the Gold in London Friday.
And the crowd at Plymouth High School was just brimming with excitement to watch the race and cheer her on. But the cheers suddenly fell silent when Uceny fell, tripped from behind in her last lap.
Esther Thompson watched it all on a big screen in the High School, "It' sad that that happened, very sad." The audience let out a shout of disbelief when they saw Uceny fall. That was followed by silence. "Wow is all I could say for about five minutes," said Plymouth High School Athletic Director, Roy Benge.
And while fans were in shock they were also feeling for Uceny. "Getting to talk to her so many times after races and when she talks to us about how she feels when she wins or something happens I think it really just affects us because we knew how she was feeling. Everything she'd gone through," said Karen Minix.
It's not the first time the Plymouth Community has watched Uceny go through something like this. Uceny also fell In 2011 while running in the World Championship. Which makes what fans saw in her Olympic run even harder to believe. "It's a situation where lightning struck twice," said Benge.
Certainly not what Plymouth was expecting. Just moments before Uceny's fall they were cheering, waving signs of encouragement, and getting on their feet to watch that final lap.
But despite the outcome of this race everyone says Uceny is still number one to Plymouth.
"We're so proud of her," said Minix.
