Olympic long distance runner misses out on thousands after making wrong turn just before the finish line

The annual Peachtree Highway Race in Georgia resulted in heartbreak for defending champion Senbere Teferi who mistakenly made a flawed flip simply within reach of the end line, shedding out on the $10,000 first place prize.

Teferi, a two-time Olympian and lengthy distance runner representing Ethiopia, completed in third place simply 4 seconds behind Fotyen Tesfay within the Elite Ladies’s class on Tuesday after she mistakenly adopted a police bike that gave the impression to be main the pack within the 10k highway race.

Organizers of the The Atlanta Journal-Structure Peachtree Highway Race launched an announcement saying it was “disillusioned” over the incident.

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“As our defending champion, Senbere Teferi, was approaching the end line, it seems like she momentarily turned confused and adopted a police motorbike when it turned off the course.

“She was within reach of the end banner, however we perceive that within the warmth of competitors directions might be misinterpreted. As a corporation, we’re disillusioned at any time when we fall in need of perfection, and on this case, it seems we did.”

In line with the AJC, Teferi held the lead for almost all of the race earlier than making that remaining flip.

Senbere Teferi of Ethiopia crosses the end line to complete second within the Ladies’s United Airways NYC Half Marathon on March 19, 2023 in New York Metropolis. (Wealthy Schultz/Getty Pictures)

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“I used to be actually upset by Senbere’s mistake as a result of she was within the entrance and he or she was main, however she took that final flip,” Tesfay, the primary place finisher, mentioned of the outcome, through the New York Put up.

“I noticed the end line. At first I believed they didn’t actually present us that properly yesterday the place the end was. However after I noticed that automobile flip, I noticed the end sign up entrance of me, so I pushed forward. However I used to be actually upset as a result of I actually deliberate to stay with Senbere on the end.”

In line with the Put up, Teferi missed out on the $10,000 prize and as a substitute settled for $3,000 awarded to the third place finisher.

Senbere Teferi seems on after profitable the 2023 NYRR New York Mini 10K on June 10, 2023 in New York Metropolis. (Mike Stobe/Getty Pictures)

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Teferi made her Olympic debut on the Summer time Video games in 2016 the place she completed fifth within the ladies’s 5,000 meter. On the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, she completed sixth in the identical occasion.