The atmosphere at Stade de France went from a noisy uproar to a gasping ‘ohh’ real quick this evening. While the semifinal 1 of the women’s 400m hurdles was underway, a heartbreaking incident crushed Britain’s hurdler, Lina Nielsen’s dreams. An opportunity slipped; it is only after years that she can now seek redemption for this error. What happened? Here are all the details.

While the first set of hurdlers were racing down the tracks, eyeing a top 2 finish for qualification, Nielsen apparently misjudged a hurdle and tumbled down. Lying on her back on the purple ground, she covered her face with her palm in sheer repentance. On mistake, and she is now out of the final league.

After this happened, track and field fans took over the internet, saddened by her lost medal hopes. One of them wrote, “God that was hard to watch! Absolutely gutted for Lina Nielsen! She did so well in her heat to make it to the 400m hurdles semi final 😢 #Paris2024” While another one chimed in saying, “Ugh that fall Lina Nielsen experienced upset my spirit 😞.”

Barely 50m away from the finish line, Nielsen’s leg slightly brushed the hurdle, leading her to trip. Not even 2 steps thereafter and she struggled to regain balance post the jerk from the obstruction. This led to her falling to her knees, and both her palms, saving herself from a face-crash. Consequently, she finished her race in a total of 1:31.22 seconds, while Jamaica’s Rushell Clayton and America’s Jasmine Jones stood atop the table.

Qualifying in 54.65 seconds, Nielsen had finished second in her heat. Also, her season best was just 2 months back at the European Athletics Championships, where she clocked a 54.43. Her top-notch form is possibly what makes this bad situation worse, as her fans feel she was a leading candidate.

Crushed for Lina Nielsen, internet fans come out in huge numbers

After Lina Nielsen’s fall, the track and field fans vouched their unreserved support for her. One of them wrote, “Lina Nielsen man. You should be proud 💛” Mistakes are a part and parcel of life, and the fan hypes Nielsen on her courageous attempt. While, a second joined in saying that irrespective of the heartbreaking results, her country is proud of her. They write, “Lina Nielsen 💔 You did Team GB proud!!!”

One of them tried to breakdown the series of events that transpired on the track. They wrote, “gutted for lina nielsen falling in the final meters. The replay shows her chopping her steps and misjudging the last hurdle 😭😭 She had an outside shot to slip into the final as a time qualifier.” Even before she fell, Nielsen looked like she had a slim chance to cover the margin in the last leg, as three contenders were already ahead of her. Given this, one of the fans cheekily questioned, “Did Lina Nielsen fall there, her time was way behind everyone else in semi 1”

While one of the fans pointed how Nielsen’s setbacks continue since her 2023 World Championships upset. Despite qualifying via her 27th world ranking, and receiving an invitation by World Athletics, Nielsen could not make it to the Budapest meet. This was because UK Athletics rejected the same, for she fell short of the automatic qualification time by 0.06 seconds. Perhaps in this context, one of the fans wrote, “If there is a god, does Lina Nielsen not deserve a f***ing break? Clearly, her fans feel that her back-to-back upsets are simply agonizing. What do you think? Let us know below.