Racewalker teaches us not to celebrate too soon
A Spanish racewalker realised too late that her celebrations began far too soon at the Women's 20km Racewalking Final at the European Athletics Championships.
Sports teach us many life lessons. Some are harsh, such as how Australian breakdancer Raygun was shamed at the Paris 2024 Olympics, and some are mellow.
Either way, like life, athletes are tested in the most unique and unsubtle ways when playing sports.
One such lesson was learned at the European Athletics Championship a few months ago when Spanish racewalker Laura Garcia-Caro learned that staying humble in the pursuit of winning is a trait worth keeping.
Laura Garcia-Caro was approaching the finish line at the Women's 20km final at the European Athletics Championship. She was so sure she would place bronze that she lifted her hand to celebrate before crossing the finish line.
At this point, she realised the Ukrainian racewalker, Lyudmila Olyanovska, had passed her and taken the bronze medal. Garcia-Caro was too late in her last stride and couldn't make it.
Watch how she was sadly disappointed when her assumption of grabbing a medal led to her failure to place in the top three - video courtesy of YouTube.
This was not the only event in which an athlete took their win for granted. Jake Odey-Jordan displayed a similar arrogance (if that's what we can call it) at the European Athletics Under-18 Championship Men's 200m race and was sadly disappointed when he lost first position.
As you heard in the Good Morning America video above, Garcia-Caro took heed of the lesson that she was being schooled on and hoped to learn from it.
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Image Courtesy of YouTube