European Championships: 5,000m runner stops early

Not a bad effort to run a 75 sec final lap when you’ve already “finished” the race. Salpeter sprints for the finish line in the women’s 5000m, only to find that the line is still 400m away…she’d end up fourth with a 75s lap pic.twitter.com/kp76UauC6n

— Ross Tucker (@Scienceofsport) August 12, 2018

Lonah Salpeter of Israel had a difficult 5,000m race at the European Championships. Salpeter crossed the finish line in the 5,000m under the impression that she had come second, but in reality, she had one more lap to go.

The runner had miscounted her laps, and thought that her race was over, but quickly realized that she wasn’t done when other competitors continued. 

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Salpeter got back into the race, and collapsed across the finish line 400 metres later, in fourth place. Unfortunately, her efforts were all for naught as she was disqualified for a lane violation from earlier in the race. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BmZIr3jlMiK/?taken-by=european.championships

The runner was first in the 10,000m earlier in the championship, in a time of 31:43.29. 

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In an event like the 5,000m, it’s easy to become confused with where you are in the race. Salpeter had lapped several women, so it’s likely that when she heard the bell, she assumed that that cue was for the women around her. Despite her faulty race, Salpeter showed extreme grit for finishing the 5,000m after her mistake. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/BYLEnT7lopH/?taken-by=sifanhassan

Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands was the winner in 14:46.21, Eilish McColgan of Great Britain was second in 14:53.05, and Yasemin Can of Turkey was third in 14:57.63.