Athletics: Runner tripped up by pole vault bar on final lap

A runner had victory stolen from him after being tripped up by the strangest of rivals in the Irish Universities Athletics Association Indoor Championships – the pole vault bar. 

National University of Ireland Galway runner Aengus Meldon was controlling the field from the front of the pack when he rounded the final corner of the second semi-final of the men's 800m. 

However, dreams of going straight though to final as the winner were shattered when the pole vault bar from the adjacent athletics field sprung away and lassoed itself round his neck. 

Meldon struggled to free himself from the tape but even when he managed to tear it away from his throat, it only slipped down his body an wrapped around his legs. 

Needless to say, the intrusion threw Meldon off his rhythm and he was quickly overtaken by rivals Paul Peppard and Eoin Reidy to finish third.

However, Meldon did move through to the final where he finished eighth.