Photo: Youtube
Odds are you missed the Irish Indoor Intervarsities meet in Athlone on February 10 because you were busy doing anything else, but that means you missed what has to be one of the craziest endings to a track and field event in the history of the sport.
And odds are before reading this story you probably best recognized Aengus Meldon from the phrase, “Who in the hell is Aengus Meldon?”, but the NUI Galway distance runner had the competition behind him and nothing but the finish line and glory of finishing in first place waiting in front of him down the home stretch of the 800m qualifier.
Of course, if that would have happened, we wouldn’t have done a story about it.
Instead, watch as some dude picked the worst time to half-ass a practice attempt on the pole vault setup sitting on the inside of the track, catching the elastic pole vault bar with his pole in the process and sending it toward poor, poor Aengus Meldon.
Irish Runner Has Victory In Hand Until Elastic Pole Vault Bar Becomes Dislodged And ‘Spider-Mans’
CAUGHT ON CAMERA: A runner competing in an 800-meter race in Ireland becomes tangled in a bungee cord after a nearby pole vault snaps. pic.twitter.com/InJGkQUY6A
— ABC World News Now (@abcWNN) February 13, 2017
I mean, does commentary of an athletic event get any better than that?
“He was tied up like Spider-Man threw something at him. Spider-Man attacked him! Spider-Man attacked him coming down the home straight! That was unreal craic! I love it. Get a replay of it, that was so good! That was so funny. He was tied up like a bloody…”
Fortunately for Meldon, he wasn’t totally dicked after getting “Spider-Manned” by the pole vault bar, as officials decided to advance him into the final race despite finishing third. And sure, he sucked balls in the final, finishing eighth, but at least he wasn’t clipped by some dude practicing a javelin throw or a ref taking a practice shot with his starter pistol as he made his way down the home stretch.
h/t The Independent
