Israeli runner reduced to tears after embarrassing mistake at European Championships

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter quickly realised the mistake she had made. Photo / Getty

Israeli runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter is back in the headlines, but this time, for all the wrong reasons.

The Kenyan-born runner, who won Israel's first ever 10,000m gold medal at the European Championships in Berlin last week, made an embarrassing error in the 5000m final when she began to celebrate a lap early.

5000M runner Lonah Chemtai Salpeter celebrates what she thinks is a silver medal a lap early. She ended up finishing in 4th pic.twitter.com/4YXJElmMk6

— Source for Funny (@SourceforFunny) August 13, 2018

Salpeter sprinted toward the finish line, behind Sifan Hassan, thinking she had won a silver medal as she began waving to the crowd with excitement.

But her smile quickly vanished as she suddenly realised there was still a lap to be run and heartbreak set in.

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter celebrated after she thought she had won a silver medal. Photo / Getty

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter lay on the track in tears after the race. Photo / Getty

"When she stopped, I went: 'What is she doing? What should I do?' I heard the people shout. It was crazy," Hassan told Reuters.

Salpeter eventually took back to the track to finish the race but only managed to cross the line in fourth.

Lonah Chemtai Salpeter was given assistance after the heartbreaking race. Photo / Getty

Moments after the race Salpeter couldn't hold back her tears as she lay face-down on the track and required assistance to stand back up.

She was later disqualified, however, after footage showed that she briefly ran inside the cone at the start of the race.