After 42km of the men's marathon at the European Championships in Munich today, the result looked certain.
Israel's Maru Teferi seemed to have all but won the gold medal after a fantastic run in Munich and led by a considerable margin.
BBC commentators Steve Cram and Paula Radcliffe had declared him as champion with 200m to go and most would've assumed that their stance was justified.
However, in front of a raucous home crowd, Germany's Richard Ringer had other ideas.
The former European medallist over 5000m used his track speed to devastating effect to snatch victory in the final metres in what was an extraordinary effort.
What just happened!? 🤯 Richard Ringer's sprinting finish wins Germany the gold in the Men's Marathon. The home crowd goes WILD!!#BackToTheRoofs #Munich2022 #Athletics #marathon
Catch more athletics here: https://t.co/6oSQKcmwR6
Outside of Europe: https://t.co/kEGlkyWUbJ pic.twitter.com/uGKSQ3gfny— European Championships (@Euro_Champs) August 15, 2022
"Look at Ringer, he's charging here," Cram roared as the German closed the gap.
"We said this was Teferi's to win but Ringer is using his track speed.
"Can he get there?...Richard Ringer is going to win it for Germany.
"What an amazing finish to the European marathon, from nowhere he takes the gold medal."
Ringer's win adds to the gold medal won by the German women's team in their marathon. The German men also claimed silver on the opening day of the championships.
It was a mixed morning for the Irish team.
Israel Olatunde ran a new national U23 100m record knocking 0.05s off his previous best. The Dundalk man who studies Computer Sciene with Data Science in UCD won his heat of the men's 100m in 10.19s.
That time is just 0.01s off Paul Hession's Irish record which was set back in 2007 and Olatunde will feel it is in his grasp when he runs in the semi-final tomorrow evening.
In the women's marathon the Irish team of Fionnuala McCormack, Ann-Marie McGlynn and Aoife Cooke finished fifth.
5th overall for women’s marathon team 👏🏼🇮🇪#Munich2022 pic.twitter.com/UDVdcut2Fj
— Athletics Ireland (@irishathletics) August 15, 2022
McCormack finished seventh in the individual race having been in contention throughout, while McGlynn and Cooke were both inside the top 35.
Hugh Armstrong finished 58th in the men's marathon.
Shot Put thrower Eric Favors just missed out on a final place. He threw 19.71m in qualification to finish 15th overall, with 12 advancing to the final.
