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Premature celebration leads to athlete losing race in Spain

Athlete gets passed metres from the finish line

You know why coaches always tell athletes to run right through the finish, even in training? It’s to get you into the habit of getting through the line without having anyone sneak by you in the last few metres of the race. Spanish triathlete Mateo Bustos must have either missed out on that type of training, or simply forgot last weekend – he thought he had the win in the sprint-distance event  (750 m swim, 20 km bike, 5 km run) wrapped up at a race in Sagunto, Spain last weekend, only to get passed in the last few metres as he turned to the crowd and gave a fist pump.

Bustos races for Club Multiesport Benitatxell and was beaten to the line by German Cister, who races for Club Triatlon TriCanet. After his finishing chute blunder, Bustos can be seen putting his head in his hands as a woman can be heard yelling in the background in Spanish “Idiot! How can he be so stupid?”

Cister’s teammate “Domingo” managed to round out the podium, making it a great day for the TriCanet group. One would guess Bustos will make sure he runs right through the finish line in future.

 

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