Athletics: Track farce as sprinter has to dodge TV camera

There was good and bad news for the Irish 200 metres runner Paul Brizzel at the European Athletics Championships in Munich yesterday. The bad news is that he failed to reach the second round of the event. The good news is that he is still alive.

Running in the outside lane, the 25-year-old from Ballymena had to take evasive action 10 metres into his race as a trackside television camera on a boom swung up in front of him. "I looked up and this camera was right there in my face," he said. "I had to duck and dodge around it as the boom moved across. I was really lucky I saw it in time, otherwise I might have been spending the night in intensive care with stitches in my head, or worse. I could have lost an eye or even been killed." It was the third instance of potentially dangerous incursions by television cameras at athletics events in the past fortnight.

During one of Tuesday's men's 1500 metres heats, a cameraman stepped on to the inside lane and narrowly avoided causing a pile-up involving five or six runners. And, last Friday week, in the Commonwealth Games 10,000 metres final, England's former Commonwealth champion Rob Denmark was knocked into lane four by a television cameraman trying to get pictures of the Kenyan runners who had already finished.

After completing what was the last race of his international career, Denmark charged over to the cameraman with fists clenched and had to be pulled away by the Scottish runner Glen Stewart.

Insult was added to near-injury for the Irish yesterday when, after protesting, they were told by officials that the only option was for Brizzel to run the race again on his own – and in the same lane.

So it was that, three-quarters of an hour after it had finished, the 200 metres first round third heat was re-run with just one athlete. The crowd in the Olympic Stadium did their best to cheer him on but as the Irish record holder, seventh and last in the original race in 21.32 seconds, completed the loneliest 200 metres of his life it was clear that his chances of progressing were forlorn. As he crossed the line, clocking 21.19 seconds, the announcer gave out a loud sympathetic sigh. Brizzel, who has a best of 20.54, needed 21.04 or better.

"The crowd did their best but it was a no-win situation, running without anybody else alongside me," said Brizzel. "I didn't have enough time to recover from the first run, and I had slightly strained myself trying to make up the lost time first time round. I'm deeply shocked, and deeply hurt. I came here probably in the shape of my life, and now I am out through no fault of my own. What happened was just stupidity. I feel it's just an unprofessional championship."

Brizzel's comments echoed the reaction earlier in the week from Britain's Anthony Whiteman, who almost fell amid the disruption in the 1500 metres. "It was an absolute joke," Whiteman said. "It was the worst organised race I've ever been in. There was a piece of cable on the inside lane. Then the cameraman came on to the track and I got knocked to the back. You would expect the organisation to be efficient here, but it wasn't."

For Brizzel, the incident could have serious financial consequences. Unless he finishes in the top 16 in Europe this season he risks losing his lottery support of about £8,000.