MADRID – A long jumper was reduced to tears when officials mistakenly erased her mark after a leap that could have brought her a gold medal at the Spanish athletics championships on Sunday.
Maria Vicente, 19, appeared to have recorded a distance above 6.50 meters with her first leap but the mark was rubbed out by two officials in the pit, who believed she had fouled.
Replays showed the Catalan athlete, who won gold in the pentathlon on Friday, had not overstepped the mark and she was given another attempt after officials recognised their mistake.
Visibly shaken by the error, Vicente fouled on her next jump but later recorded 6.24m, her best leap of the day, followed by a dis…
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