Olympics rocked by awful scene as hush falls over crowd during athletics: 'Hard to watch'

There was absolute heartbreak for Team GB at the Olympics on Tuesday night when Lina Nielsen fell in the 400m hurdles semi-final and was left prone on the track in devastating scenes. Nilsen was fighting for third place in the semi and appeared to be destined for a place in the final, but tripped on one of the final hurdles.

There was a noticeable hush that fell over the crowd inside Stade de France, and it looked as though Nielsen might have been injured. But she picked herself up and walked across the finish line, with Norwegian rival Amalie Iuel consoling her.

Replays showed Nielsen appeared to lose her timing while coming up to the fateful hurdle, and shuffled her feet a number of times before jumping. Her foot clipped the hurdle and she came crashing down in agonising scenes.

Fans were left heartbroken at the awful scenes, with one writing: “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." Another added: "Heartbreaking photo of Lina Nielsen. So close to a potential final spot and then impossibly far away."

Jakob Ingebrigtsen stunned in shock 1500m result

It came amid a night of drama on the track in Paris, with American Cole Hocker stealing gold in the men's 1500m from Jakob Ingebrigtsen and Josh Kerr. The race was billed as a blockbuster between Ingebrigtsen and Kerr, with the Norweigan and British runners publicly declaring they aren't friends.

But gold medal favourite Ingebrigtsen went out way too hard, and was mowed down in the final straight to miss a medal completely. Hocker raced through on the inside for a totally unexpected victory in an Olympic record time of 3min 27.65sec.

Kerr took silver in a British record of 3:27.79, while Ingebrigtsen came fourth after being passed by another American - Yared Nuguse - who clocked 3:27.80 for bronze. Hocker was a relative unknown, but the American insisted becoming Olympic champion had been his season's goal.

"I wrote that down and I repeated it to myself even if I didn't believe it," the 23-year-old said. "If they let me fly under the radar, then so be it. I think that might've just been the best."

Ingebrigtsen admitted it was "just 100 metres too much" after he led for the opening 800m before falling away. "Of course it's a tactical error," he said.

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Gabby Thomas denies Julien Alfred a 100-200m double

It was double delight for America, with Gabby Thomas streaking to glory in the women's 200m ahead of 100m champion Julien Alfred. Alfred had claimed a first-ever medal for St Lucia when she won the 100m gold, but had no response when Thomas hit the bend and powered away down the final straight at the Stade de France.

The US took gold and bronze as Thomas clocked 21.83sec for the victory and Brittany Brown rounded out the podium. "I don’t think it could have gone any better," Thomas said. "My coach told me the only thing I need is to get the lead and finish strong and I did that." It marked the first time since the Montreal Olympics in 1976 that there were no Jamaican sprinters on the podium of either the women's 100 or 200m.

with agencies