- The incident took place at the Spanish U20 Indoor Championships in Salamanca
- 18-year-old Guillermo Sanchez was crowned the winner of the 1500m race
This is the shocking moment that an athlete was disqualified for a shameful act of sportsmanship just centimetres from the finish line.
The incident took place at the Spanish Under-20 Indoor Championships in Salamanca on Sunday.
18-year-old Guillermo Sanchez was crowned the winner of the 1500m race after recording a time of 3:54.55.
But as he raised his hands in celebration, Daniel Lopez and Mario Palencia, both 18, were in close proximity to Sanchez.
Lopez, who was sitting in second place, appeared to change his path to the right of the track in an attempt to block Palencia.
Reacting to Lopez’s move, Palencia pushed him just centimetres before the competitors were about to cross the finish line, resulting in Lopez losing his balance and sprawling to ground.
This is the shocking moment that an athlete was disqualified for a shameful act of sportsmanship
The incident took place at the Spanish Under-20 Indoor Championships in Salamanca on Sunday
Daniel Lopez was pushed by Mario Palenci, resulting in Lopez losing his balance and sprawling to ground
But Palencia’s move did not go unnoticed, as he was deemed to have committed unsportsmanlike conduct under article RT7.1 of the race’s regulations, per Marca.
Palencia received a red card for the incident and was disqualified from the race as a result of his actions.
The incident came after Palencia and Lopez also clashed earlier on in the race.
It follows a similarly controversial incident at the indoor track championships in Lynchburg, Virginia, when a runner used the baton in her relay race as a weapon against an opponent.
The attack took place during the 4x200m relay event of the VSHL Class 3 State Indoor Championships held on the campus of Liberty University.
Kaelen Tucker was running the second leg of the relay for Lynchburg’s Brookville High School when she went to make a pass around another runner in a battle for second place.
Brookville High School runner Kaelen Tucker (circled) was hit on the head with a baton
Tucker went to pass an opposing runner when she was struck on the head, causing her to fall
Her opponent in that battle – who attended IC Norcom High School in the Hampton Roads area of the state – decided to take more aggressive action.
The Norcom runner wound her right arm back and smacked the baton she was carrying across Tucker’s head as seen on video of the incident.
Judges at the event who saw the attack disqualified Norcom’s team for ‘contact interference’ – or physically interfering with another runner’s actions.
WSET says Tucker is currently being treated for a concussion and a possible skull fracture.
