[Image of the day] Runners help each other finish a trippy marathon, embody the Olympic spirit

What are the Olympics held for?

They take a massive economic toll of the host nation, put incredible pressure on athletes all around the world who aren't paid to compete and most nations leave the competition red-faced and dejected (India will be one of them this year!)

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So what exactly is this mythical "Olympic Spirit" thing everyone keeps talking about?

It is the spirit of unity. Of one world, one people.

No one embodies this more than New Zealand's distance runner Nikki Hamblin. With around 2,000m left in the 5,000m qualifying heat at the Rio Olympics, Nikki fell and tripped up America's Abbey D'Agostino.

The American got back up, but rather than trying to finish the race for herself, she stopped and helped her fellow competitor.

Nikki was on the ground and appeared to be crying after falling hard on her shoulder when Abbey put her arm around Nikki and helped her get up.

"That girl is the Olympic spirit right there," Hamblin said after the race. "I've never met her before. Like I never met this girl before. And isn't that just so amazing. Such an amazing woman."

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"Suddenly, there was this hand on my shoulder, like 'Get up. We have to finish this' and I was like 'Yup, yup, you're right'. This is the Olympics Games. We have to finish this", Nikki recalled Abbey saying later.

Nikki finished the race just one ahead of D'Agostino and the pair embraced at the finish. Both the distance runners also qualified for the finals.

You can watch the hallowed "Olympic spirit" in flesh and bone here: