Long Jumper Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova Loses Gold Because of Her Pony Tail

Belarusian long jumper Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova missed out on winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea because of her pony tail.

True story.

Mironchyk-Ivanova leaped 6.90 meters on her third jump — good for first place — but her hair touched the sand, leaving her with a mark of 6.74 meters. The winner, American Brittney Reese, jumped 6.82 meters. She kept her hair up in a bun.

Losing because of the mark left by the pony tail not only cost Mironchyk-Ivanova the gold medal, but also $60,000 in prize money.

We’ve heard of some pretty brutal ways to lose events, but this may be the worst. Actually, this incident might just top it.

Note: This post also appeared on the Yardbarker Olympics Blog