Professional athletes are not the only ones susceptible to sports injuries. In a particular case, the cameraman jeopardizes his life to capture iconic moments on the world stage.
A group of sprinters nearly ran over a cameraman during an event at the World Athletics Championships in Eugene, Oregon. A videographer was distracted by the screen that he did not see the pack of runners racing at full speed behind him.
The near-collision took place during the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase at Hayward Field on the University of Oregon campus. The runners were trained to avoid obstacles during the event but they did not expect the cameraman as an obstacle in Lane 2. Fifteen sprinters had to split apart and run around the videographer to avoid a human stampede.
The cameraman came out of the other end without any injuries.
So, what caused his distraction? He made his way to the track to get a better angle of the women’s triple jump final. A better shot of the attractive sportswomen could have ended in broken limbs for this man.
Fortunately, he did not fly into the air. Evan Jager, an American competitor who finished sixth in the race, said: “I was a little worried that he [the cameraman] was going to dart one way or another, right at the last second, but thankfully he didn’t realize we were there until we all passed him.”
The race ended successfully. Morrocco’s Soufiane El Bakkali won the men’s 3,000-meter steeplechase with a record of eight minutes, 25.13 seconds.
Source: https://twitter.com/NBCOlympics/status/1549227112485339138