European Championship Race Delayed as Drone Collides with Hurdle Before Katerina Johnson-Thompson's Gold Bid

KATARINA JOHNSON-THOMPSON’s European Championship race was postponed on Friday after a DRONE crashed into a hurdle.

The British athlete, 33, was competing in the women’s heptathlon when the bizarre incident happened.

, who is hoping to win a first gold at in Birmingham this summer, was about to run in the 100m hurdles section of the event.

But the race got off to a bad start when the drone got into difficulty while trying to record the route of the race.

The device flew along the stretch of the track and ambitiously tried to travel through a couple of the hurdles.

It started off impressively and gave watching viewers a unique view of what the athletes would experience.

But the scenic shot didn’t go to plan as it smashed into the leg of one of the central hurdles.

Even the commentator was surprised by the gaffe as he said: “Oh my goodness me, there we go.

“They’re told to stand down because the drone operator has left the building.

“It’s lying on the track in the middle of lane four. They’re going to have to go and retrieve it. It’s a major concern now.

“It’s being picked up in little electronic pieces and taken to the side. Major headache. We laugh but it’s majorly disruptive to the start of this race.”

His co-commentator joked: “Maybe we need a stretcher. Medics?”

Johnson-Thompson didn’t look pleased after the delay was confirmed as she stood watching with her hands on her hips.

Fans were bemused by the scenes but said it wasn’t exactly surprising given the ambitious idea.

One wrote on X: “That drone crash was inevitable!”

Another said: “Peaceful scenery to absolute chaos in seconds.”

After the short delay, KJT ended up finishing second in her 100m hurdles heat before moving onto the high jump.

She went on to successfully clear 1.83m on her third attempt to put her high up the leaderboard ahead of her shot put event this evening.