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An elite runner’s mistake in the final yards of the Peachtree Road Race cost her the title and the $10,000 first prize.
Senbere Teferi, last year’s champion, was in front approaching the finish line at the prestigious Atlanta 10-kilometer race Tuesday. When a motorcycle police officer who was accompanying the three leaders peeled off to the right, she followed him — though the finish banner was in view straight ahead and a course monitor frantically tried to direct her toward it.
Within seconds she realized her error, but by then the two other runners had passed her.
Fotyen Tesfay won the race in 30 minutes, 43 seconds. Teferi was four seconds behind her and took third place, with a prize of $3,000.
Tesfay — who, like Teferi, is Ethiopian — was asked through a translator about those final yards.
“I saw the finish line,” she said. “At first I thought they didn’t really show us that well yesterday where the finish was. But after I saw that car turn, I saw the finish sign in front of me, so I pushed ahead. But I was really upset because I really planned to stick with Senbere at the finish.”
The race’s organizers posted a tweet saying they were “disappointed” by the mistake. “It looks like she momentarily became confused and followed a police motorcycle when it turned off the course,” it said of Teferi. “She was within sight of the finish banner, but we understand that in the heat of competition instructions can be misinterpreted. As an organization, we are disappointed whenever we fall short of perfection, and in this case, it appears we did.”
The men’s race was won by Kenya’s Charles Langat in a time of 27:42.
Approximately 50,000 people participate in the Peachtree Road Race. This year was the 54th edition of the race.
The-CNN-Wire
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