Texas A&M hurdler Infinite Tucker was losing his grip on the lead of the 400-meter hurdles at the 2019 SEC Track & Field Championships. As he and the rest of his competitors finished the final two hurdles, Tucker and his teammate, Robert Grant, separated themselves from the rest of the pack. In order to ensure that he would be the one on the team to come out as the winner, Tucker made the bold decision to sacrifice his body and dive towards the finish line. The track burns he likely picked up turned out to be worth it, as he won the race and the title.
“Look, I closed my eyes over hurdle 10. I opened it, saw my ma at the finish, and I jumped to give her a hug,” the hurdler told ESPN after the race. “That’s all it is.”
The fact that his teammate was so close to him towards the end was not the only reason he was willing to take the risky jump. When Tucker competed in this race back in 2017, his efforts came up just short as he finished in second place. There’s little doubt that that loss was certainly going through his mind. For the sake of his skin’s health, I hope there aren’t any more races he feels the need to avenge in such dramatic fashion.