Lea Meyer fell badly at the World Athletics Championships.
Lea Meyer fell headfirst into the water. EPA/AOP
At the World Athletics Championships, the women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase heats saw a violent fall on Saturday.
Germany’s Lea Meyer came to the water obstacle with the group in the first set. Meyer fell on the barrier and splashed face first into the water.
There are occasional wobbles at the water obstacles, but the German went right on his nose. He disappeared from the TV pictures into the pond and got up with his hair and face completely wet.
– Oops! Yle’s narrator Kimmo Porttila amazed.
– It was a wild-looking situation. It does affect running. He even went swimming there, he got really wet, expert Tuomas Raja amazed.
Raja later stated that it is one of the wildest crashes he has seen in steeplechase.
Meyer later told a German website for tag24that his spikes got caught in the obstacle.
– I didn’t approach the obstacle aggressively enough. It was stupid and annoying.
Until the finish line
Lea Meyer tried to catch the fall with her hands. EPA/AOP
The completely drenched German quickly stood up. EPA/AOP
Meyer continued on his way with wet hair on his face. PDO
The luck in the accident was that Meyer was not injured in the situation. He was able to run to the finish line and was eighth in his heat.
The German was even caught in the final place through the time comparison. However, the time 9:30.81 was not enough to continue.
Meyer’s record this year is 9:25.61.
The German’s opening round also saw a tough quotation. Kazakhstan’s Norah Jeruto ran the distance in 9:01.54, which is the second fastest ever at the World Championships.
The women’s 3,000-meter steeplechase final will be run on Thursday. There are no Finns involved.