Hurdler Anna Toth’s bid for a medal ended in agony as the Hungarian competitor faceplanted in a scary scene at the European Athletics Championships in Rome.
Toth’s nightmare came near the end of the women’s 100-meter hurdles semifinals when she came crashing down just as she was approaching the finish line.
The 20-year-old appeared to stumble on one hurdle, was unable to recover as she hit the next one and eventually faceplanted onto the ground in a brutal scene.
Medical officials immediately came to Toth’s aid as she lay there crestfallen, unable to comprehend as she was so close to the finish line.
Toth’s devastation was painful to see as the medics attended to her.
It appears that that she did not suffer any injuries.
Toth was not the only hurdler to meet the unfortunate fate Sunday.
Ireland’s Sarah Lavin, who competed and placed first in the semifinals when Toth cratered to the ground, suffered a similar fate in the finals.
Lavin’s momentum was halted in the final as she clipped the second hurdle and it was all but over from there, as she placed seventh.
“The start was really good, it was the same as the semifinal, it was really, really quick,” Lavin told RTE Sport after the race. “And then I hit (the hurdle) with my lead and my trail (leg), I think, but badly.
“I lost everything and I had to start again from scratch because obviously your whole acceleration is gone. I bottled it,” Lavin said in the tender interview after the event. “Right now, it’s just very raw. I bottled it.”
“It’s not the placing. I know that my performance can be much better than that.”
For the competitors, the Olympics are just a few weeks away, where they will have the opportunity to make good on the brutal results at the 100m competitions in Europe.