Ivana Spanovic's sixth round effort in the long jump briefly looked like it had won her gold at the World Athletics Championships in London on Friday night.
The Serbian appeared to have jumped well beyond 7m, an attempt which could have beaten American Brittney Reese's competition winning mark of 7.02.
However, Spanovic's attempt was recorded as being just 6.91m. The reason: her bib number had touched the sand at 6.91m.
Perder un oro... ¿Por un dorsal con imperdibles? ??
La polémica está servida #London2017 pic.twitter.com/9ASaOzsw1w— Eurosport.es (@Eurosport_ES) August 11, 2017
It was an incredible piece of bad luck for the two-time World Championship bronze medalist.
Serbia did appeal the result. However, it was rejected. The rules do state:
All jumps shall be measured from the nearest break in the landing area made by any part of the body or anything that was attached to the body at the time it made a mark to the take-off line.
Spanovic finished fourth in the competition. Her second round effort of 6.96m was just 1cm behind America's Tianna Bartoletta in third.
On Saturday morning, BBC asked why athletes still attach numbers - with safety pins - on the front and back. Michael Johnson explained that it was for sponsorship reasons.
Ivana Spanovic may well be asking this this morning.
Why do athletes still use pins to fix their name bibs?#London2017 pic.twitter.com/8Lx6lUezuk— BBC Sport (@BBCSport) August 12, 2017
