KRASNAYA POLYANA, Russia — In the finals of the men’s cross-country skiing sprint Tuesday at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Russia’s Anton Gafarov crashed but still managed to finish the race thanks to Canadian coach and Bend resident Justin Wadsworth, who ran onto the course to help him.

Wadsworth provided a replacement ski for Gafarov, who tried to finish the race on only one ski after the other ski broke in half in the crash.

Wadsworth — a former U.S. Olympian whose wife, Beckie Scott, won an Olympic gold medal for Canada in 2002 — helped Gafarov put the new ski on.

“It was like watching an animal stuck in a trap,” Wadsworth was quoted saying in the Toronto Star. “You can’t just sit there and do nothing about it. … I wanted him to have dignity as he crossed the finish line.”

Gafarov finished nearly three minutes behind the leaders, but the Russian crowd gave him a standing ovation as he crossed the finish line.