VIDEO: Big collision as race official wanders into lane one during 1,500m
A Stanford Invitational official was taken to hospital, according to a report, after being involved in an on-track collision during the 1,500m.
A race official was taken to hospital after cutting into lane one during the men’s 1,500m at Stanford University on Saturday. At the Stanford Invitational in Palo, Alto, Calif. the official, who had his back turned to the runners, tried to get out of the way at the last moment but was taken to the ground.
Unfortunately, the official tried to get to the inside of the track to avoid the runners rather than veering to the outer lanes.
At the time, Pat McGregor, a coach with Samford University, was pacing the race. With the official’s sudden pivot to his left, McGregor was caught off guard and the two collided at the 850m point of the 1,500m. Three-time Olympian Michael Rimmer, who can be seen in the white T-shirt, was in second at the time, did not finish the race. The official was taken away on a stretcher.
official unfortunately walked into the track.. we collided heavily!!
— Michael Rimmer (@MichaelRimmer8) April 1, 2017
“Action was delayed and the official, who was coherent [after the collision], was taken off on a stretcher, and taken to a local hospital to be checked out,” according to FloTrack.
Pre-incident race photo
Joshua Thompson ended up winning the heat in 3:41.80 as three runners, McGregor, Rimmer and Blake Haney, who was fell later on in the race, did not finish.
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