‘I lost everything’: Horror moment hurdler faceplants at European Champs

A hurdler has crashed out of the European Championships semi-finals in terrifying scenes after wiping out on back-to-back hurdles.

Hurdler Anna Toth faceplanted after smashing into two hurdles in yet another agonising mishap at the European Championships.

The Hungarian’s medal dream ended as she stumbled over the penultimate obstacle then went flying after smashing into the last one.

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Toth’s horror fall came in the semi-finals of the women’s 100 metres hurdles in Rome.

She was sent crashing down into the track just metres from the finishing lane.

Medics rushed to help the 20-year-old as she lay stricken and crestfallen.

Not surprisingly, Toth looked devastated as she held her head in her hands then eventually sat up.

Ireland’s medal hope Sarah Lavin also hit a hurdle – in the final of the same event – and accused herself of “bottling it” with her performance.

American-born Brit Cindy Sember took fourth place, with France’s Cyrena Samba-Mayela earning gold in a Championship record of 12.31.

Lavin had clocked her season’s best of 12.73 in the semis but finished seventh in the final in just 12.94.

It was a scary fall for Toth. Photo: BBC

Hungary's athlete Anna Toth lies on the track. Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

Officials rushed to her aid. Photo by Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

She told RTE: “The start was really good, it was the same as the semi-final, it was really, really quick.

“And then I hit (the hurdle) with my lead and my trail (leg) I think but badly.

“I lost everything and I had to start again from scratch because obviously your whole acceleration is gone. I bottled it.”

The hurdle-hitting was far from the only painful misfortune so early in the competition.

Britain’s Zak Seddon tumbled over by the water jump in a frenzied 3000m steeplechase heat.

After missing out on a final spot, Zeddon said: “That fall when in a surge made me tired and I didn’t have enough on the last lap.”

And in the very first medal event Spain’s Laura Garcia-Caro went viral after her premature celebration proved costly in the women’s 20km race walk.

With her country’s flag draped around her, the 29-year-old grinned broadly before pumping the air with her right fist.

But that slight-slowing down with five metres to go cost Garcia-Caro dearly.

Her look of delight turned to despair as she glanced over her shoulder to see Ukraine’s Lyudmyla Olyanovska powering past her to nick bronze.

This story first appeared in The Sun and was republished with permission.