Cross Country Runner Wins Race In Style With Accidental Face Plant

When showboating goes wrong: European Cross Country Championships Edition…

From News.com:

The cross country champion (Jimmy Gressier), who defended his Under-23 European title, crashed to the ground after his knees got stuck in the mud.

Gressier was clearly in the lead as he charged towards the ribbon with two France flags.

He wanted to finish the race in style, but the wet conditions tricked him into thinking he could pull off a knee slide.

The 21-year-old was stopped in his tracks and to the amazement of the fans, he fell face first into the ribbon.

But the embarrassed star still smiled straight after because he had just secured the gold medal with an impressive time of 23:37.
As he tumbled to the ground, the BBC commentator said:

“Jimmy, what are you doing? Your big moment and you fluffed it.”

Fluffed it or not, he still won at the end of the day & had a good sense of humor about it (and he’s not the only one to jack up a celebration).

Side note – The runner who really stole the scene for me at those races was Norway’s Henrik Ingebrigtsen.

Naturally I wound up Googling this guy & was pleased to see his look wasn’t just to make a splash on race day. What appears to be a Brooklyn hipster at the local park is truly his everyday norm.