Swedish hurdler takes face-first tumble

Swedish hurdler Elin Westerlund had a face-first encounter with the running track when she took a spectacular tumble at the European Athletics Championships.

Running in lane seven, the Swede was already lagging behind when she clipped a hurdle at the midway mark and went sprawling headfirst into the next hurdle.

Audible gasps could be heard from the crowd as Westerlund first stumbled then crashed into the hurdles at top speed.

At first the commentators seemed not to take notice of the fall, but when the replays showed it one of them remarked it was a "very, very bad fall".

She managed to pick herself up after a few moments lying prone and sheepishly walked from the track.

Luckily, other than her pride taking a bit of a beating, she was relatively unscathed, she told Swedish television station TV12 after the race.

"I think it went well, it felt easy," Westerlund said.

"I didn't hit the ground too hard."