I ran 10km all the way to first place, but I lost the championship in front of the finish line. The player said, “I was distracted and made a mistake.”
Reporter Oh Seon-min will tell you what happened.
[Reporter]
<Peachtree Road Race 10km｜Atlanta, USA (4th local time)>
No one could overtake this runner who was ahead by a narrow margin.
The moment when Ethiopia’s Teferi, who started the 10km shortened marathon, confirmed his victory following last year.
[Local Broadcaster: No, Teferi is going off course right now?]
He was following a police motorbike turning right and into the wrong road.
It was just 150 meters from the finish line.
[No, where is Teferi going? No!]
I realized it belatedly and turned around, but it was already too late to pick it up.
[Replay: It’s a disaster for Teferi, who was running in the lead.]
In the end, he gave up the championship to the second place안전놀이터, and came third with a difference of four seconds.
Teferi, who missed the tournament two times in a row and the prize money of 13 million won right in front of his eyes, collapsed.
“I was distracted while checking my watch and followed the motorcycle,” he said. “Anyway, my mistake was correct.”
The organizers of the tournament acknowledged the mistake, saying, “The player could have misunderstood,” but the result could not be reversed.
This isn’t the first time a marathon has been mistaken for a route, and efforts have been blown up in an instant.
Six years ago in Italy, police motorbikes led runners down the wrong path and the winner was reversed.