British 200m runner has 'absolute disaster' and manages to lose race after being way out in front
The young Brit had a nightmare in the 200m race.
Ben McCrum
A British runner suffered a humiliating loss while competing at the Under-18 Championships.
The European Athletics Under-18 Championships are currently underway in Slovakia as the continent's top young athletes compete just days before the Olympic Games begin in Paris.
And one British star has suffered a brutal loss while competing in the men’s 200m heat, a race he was expected to dominate.
Jake Odey-Jordan was comfortably ahead of his peers almost instantly, with commentators for the race saying that he was ‘blasting his way around the bend’ as soon as the race started.
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But, just moments before crossing the finish line, the 6-foot-tall Brit eases off to look over his shoulder and see where his opponents were.
This momentary lapse in judgment allowed his competitors to rapidly catch up with Odey-Jordan, who finished the race in fourth.
The mistake was devastating for the teenager, who subsequently missed out on a top three spot which would have qualified him for the next round.
Reacting to the moment live, commentators said: "What's happened here? What has gone wrong there? That was an absolute disaster. He has eased up far, far, far too early and half the field swept past him before the finish line.
"This is going to be a lesson learned the very, very hard way - after what was, for the first 150m, a masterful display of sprinting. Jake Odey-Jordan easing up way, way, way too early and they all came past."
Sweden’s Bram Persoon won the race with a time of 21.79 seconds, ahead of Denmark’s Samuel Kaerhog and Switzerland’s Mathieu Gabioud who finished in second and third respectively.
Speaking about his loss, the Odey-Jordan said: “It is all right. I mean, it is my fault so I cannot be sad about anything but myself. It is what it is. It felt good, it was not the fastest run but it felt good.
"For sure, it could have been sub 21. But it is all good though. I am just out here, it is my first race on this meet, I just tried to get on my legs, nothing hurts me or nothing like that."