Spanish Race Walker Celebrates Too Early, Misses Out On Bronze Medal

It ain't over ‘til it’s over. And Laura García-Caro learned that the hard way at the European Athletics Championships on Friday.

The Spanish race walker was in third place heading into the final straight of the 20km race in Rome's Stadio Olimpico. Thinking she had surely secured the bronze medal, García-Caro began to celebrate — punching the air and sticking out her tongue in triumph.

But triumph turned to turmoil as Ukraine's Lyudmila Olyanovska made up a 50-meter gap and brushed by her just before the finish line.

Watch García-Caro's expression change as she realizes she's been defeated:

García-Caro had been so confident of a medal, in fact, that she grabbed a Spanish flag in the final stages of the race and draped it around her shoulders. She was so distracted by her own foolish pride that she forgot to look up at the big screen and see Olyanovska closing in on her.

"I am quite disappointed. The first part of the race I suffered, but (I did) recover and in the last 10 meters I thought I had it, but I didn't," García-Caro said, according to Reuters. "Now I have to assimilate (what happened) and heal my heart."

(Photo by Francois Nel/Getty Images for World Athletics)

Meanwhile, Olyanovska dedicated her third-place finish to her home country.

"Nowadays there is a war in Ukraine. We train under very difficult conditions, it was very hard preparation, but I am very glad I managed to bring a medal home. This was what was pushing me to the finish the most," she said, according to The Guardian.

"My little son is waiting for me at home in Ukraine. He is five years old and just for him, I pushed myself so much. I do not know even if he saw me competing today because, in Ukraine, the infrastructure is broken. They do not have electricity, there is no internet, no light, so I do not know if he saw me on TV."

The race saw 35 extra-speedy walkers competing from 14 different countries. Gold and silver went to Italians Antonella Palmisano and Valentina Trapletti. Palmisano also took home the gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.