A cross country runner was left blushing after an attempt at an audacious finish went spectacularly wrong and left him face down in the mud.
French athlete Jimmy Gressier was some way ahead of his rivals as he approached the finish line in the men’s under-23 European Cross County Championships in Tilburg, Netherlands.
GOLDEN moment from Jimmy Gressier 8299 metres = Perfect ✅The final one = 🙈🙈🙈A golden moment from FFA – Fédération Française d'Athlétisme's Jimmy Gressier as he finished his victorious U23 men's race! #Tilburg2018 Posted by European Athletics on Sunday, December 9, 2018
Unfortunately, Gressier, who was defending his title from the previous year, didn’t manage to complete the final metre in the style he was hoping, as an attempted knee slide saw him pass through the tape face first.
Speaking after his victory, Gressier, 21, said: “I am just very happy to win for the second time. The conditions were difficult but the course was still really nice despite the weather.”
How not to finish a cross country race. 🙈#Tilburg2018 pic.twitter.com/2kJ3I6WOFb — European Athletics (@EuroAthletics) December 9, 2018
