Race Walker Laura García-Caro Loses Out on Medal After Celebrating Too Early: 'I Thought I Had It'
The Spanish athlete draped a flag on her shoulders and pumped her fist in the air before she was passed by another competitor near the finish line
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
A Spanish race walker missed out on a bronze medal after she celebrated a bit too early.
Laura García-Caro was in position to take third place at the European Athletics Championships in Rome when she draped her country’s flag on her shoulders, pumped her fist in the air — and was promptly passed by Ukrainian competitor Lyudmila Olyanovsk in the final two meters, CNN reported.
“I am quite disappointed,” García-Caro, 29, said after the 20-kilometer race. “The first part of the race I suffered, but [I did] recover and in the last 10 meters I thought I had it, but I didn’t.”
She added, “Now I have to assimilate [what happened] and heal my heart.”
Related: Slovakian Race Walkers Get Engaged at Finish Line at World Athletics Championships: 'She Said Yes!'
In a clip from the race, the Spaniard’s shock at the outcome is caught in real time.
Two days later, on Sunday, June 9, the athlete had enough distance from the results to share her perspective in a post on Instagram.
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“4th in Europe and ticket to my second Olympics,” García-Caro wrote, and then added: “Yes, sometimes people make mistakes at the least inappropriate time.”
She continued, “Only staying with this is being unfair to me because it's been hard to get here after a difficult time. And of this I am beyond proud.”
Italians Antonella Palmisano and Valentina Trapletti finished first and second in the race, which took place at Stadio Olimpico on Friday, June 7.
AP Photo/Gregorio Borgia
García-Caro, currently ranked 27th in the world at the 20k distance, finished 34th at the Tokyo Olympics.
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