At the World Championships in Beijing, American runner Molly Huddle almost won bronze during the 10,000-meter race. Almost ... until her early celebration where she relaxed toward the finish line dropped her down to fourth place.
American runner’s early finish line celebration causes her to lose medal
If only she’d just kept her pace.
Once again, in slow motion:
(GIF via LetsRun.com)
Huddle’s face was buried in her hands, just like the rest of us, after realizing her mistake:
After the race, Huddle gave some thoughts to the Star-Gazette:
“She got this once-in-a-lifetime moment, and I feel like it slipped through my fingers, so it’s frustrating,” Huddle said in the post-race television interview.
When asked her reaction to the replay of the finish, Huddle said, “It’s painful to watch.” A few moments earlier, a distraught Huddle buried her face in her hands as a jubilant Infeld celebrated nearby after being congratulated by Huddle.
“This is going to be a tough one to swallow,” Huddle said.
Look, early celebrations are terrible all around. They’re terrible for the person who does them, and for the people who watch them. And, like Huddle said, it’s terrible because it’s frustrating. Like, this runner probably went weeks going through an “I shouldn’t have done that” phase. Kaelin Clay definitely had a stern talking to for this move. And DeSean Jackson probably relives this moment over and over.
If you see victory in the horizon, please don’t get too excited and let fantasy take over reality.
(h/t NPR)
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SB Nation video archives: When sports go horribly wrong (2012)
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