It was all going so well for Natsuki Terada. The Japanese runner was leading a recent marathon, but then he took a wrong turn… just 200m from the finish line.
Terada had been competing for Kokugakuin University in the Hakone Ekiden relay marathon event between Tokyo and Hakone, and as he neared the end of his stage, the win appeared to be there for the taking.
As he and three other runners approached the final straight, Terada kicked deep and powered his way from fourth into first place. But then it all went horribly wrong.
Seemingly not knowing where he was going, Terada followed a TV truck which had been filming the action, as it turned down a side-road. The problem… it wasn’t going to the finish line.
So 200m from the end of the race – which was being broadcast on live TV and watched by tens of millions – he made a sharp right as his competitors went straight on.