A new Olympics rule is giving some athletes a second-chance at glory.
Now, when you think of any sporting race, it is usually the first over the finishing line that is declared the winner. And, vice-versa, the individual who crossed the line dead last is usually the person packing their bags and heading home.
However, a new rule for Paris 2024 means that one Team USA star is still in with a chance at securing a gold medal - despite finishing last.
On Sunday, some viewers may have been left disappointed after watching Freddie Crittenden of Team USA cross the finish line last in his 110m hurdles race.
In what was his first qualifying round, Crittenden came in a rather eyebrow-raising five seconds after the winner of the race.
While, to some viewers, it looked like Crittenden had just thrown away years of training, he was actually executing a very smart strategy and could be able to thrown down the biggest Uno reverse card in Olympics history.
You see, this Olympics, a "repechage" rule has been introduced for some track events - including the men's 110m hurdles. The rule essentially allows for some athletes to compete once again to qualify for the finals.
This means that Crittenden can race for a chance to qualify again on Tuesday (August 6).
That being said, while it's nice to have a backup, why didn't Crittenden just put in his best performance on Sunday?
Well, the 30-year-old Team USA star has since revealed that he was dealing with an issue that had been impacting his performance.
Speaking after his race to broadcasters, he said: "It was a weird thing, I had an easy pre-meet on Saturday, in my last rep [repetition] I aggravated my adductor a little bit, got some testing from the doctors."
"They [the medics] said it's not an injury, just a lack of muscle activation, and I've been feeling some pain," he added. "I thought I'd come here, take it easy and thank god there was a repechage round, I had to come here, get through the line, I can look forward to the repechage on Tuesday, get top six and make it to the semi-final on the next day.
"I wanted to get here and make sure it didn't feel any worse and make it through and give it everything I've got on Tuesday.
"If there wasn't a repechage round, I probably would've just balls to the wall, run as hard as I could, crashed and burned, whatever happens."
Essentially, Crittenden knew he was never going to win on Sunday anddidn't want to risk any potential injury in the race - but knew he had to compete in order to earn his repechage second chance.
All he had to do was cross the finish line - which he did. And despite coming in last, it means he can still earn his way to the final, where - in theory - he could win gold.
"It was an intentional choice," he said: "I decided to just, not make an emotional choice, make a smart choice, give my body time to recover a little bit from being aggravated."
In all honesty, I feel like they should introduce a repechage rule in all aspects of life.
If I wake up with a dodgy stomach, I'll just take my repechage and try coming into the office another day. Heck, I had a few dates in high school where a repechage rule could have come in real handy.
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