HURDLER Anna Toth faceplanted after smashing into TWO hurdles in yet another agonizing mishap at the European Championships.<br /><br />The Hungarian's medal dream ended as she stumbled over the penultimate obstacle and then went flying after smashing into the last one.<br /><br />Toth's horror fall came in the semi-finals of the women's 100 meters hurdles in Rome.<br /><br />She was sent crashing down into the track just meters from the finishing lane.<br /><br />Medics rushed to help the 20-year-old as she lay stricken and crestfallen.<br /><br />Not surprisingly, Toth looked devastated as she held her head in her hands and then eventually sat up.<br /><br />Ireland's medal hope Sarah Lavin also hit a hurdle - in the final of the same event - and accused herself of "bottling it" with her performance.<br /><br />American-born Brit Cindy Sember took fourth place, with France's Cyrena Samba-Mayela earning gold in a Championship record of 12.31.<br /><br />Lavin had clocked her season's best of 12.73 in the semis but finished seventh in the final in just 12.94.<br /><br />She told RTE: "The start was really good, it was the same as the semi-final, it was quick. <br /><br /><br />"And then I hit the hurdle with my lead and my trail leg I think but badly.<br /><br />"I lost everything and I had to start again from scratch because your whole acceleration is gone. I bottled it."<br /><br />The hurdle-hitting was far from the only painful misfortune so early in the competition.<br /><br />Britain's Zak Seddon tumbled over by the water jump in a frenzied 3000m steeplechase heat.<br /><br />After missing out on a final spot, Zeddon said: “That fall when in a surge made me tired and I didn’t have enough on the last lap.”<br /><br />And in the very first medal event, Spain's Laura Garcia-Caro went viral after her premature celebration proved costly in the women’s 20km race walk.<br /><br />With her country's flag draped around her, the 29-year-old grinned broadly before pumping the air with her right fist.<br /><br />But that slight slowing down with five meters to go cost Garcia-Caro dearly.<br /><br />Her look of delight turned to despair as she glanced over her shoulder to see Ukraine's Lyudmyla Olyanovska powering past her to nick bronze.
