Chari Hawkins made headlines at the Paris Games but not the ones she wanted to see.
The American heptathlete was in hysterics at Stade de France on Thursday after a game-time decision during the high jump, the second event of the heptathlon, seemingly backfired and dimmed her Olympic medal hopes.
Hawkins “no heighted” — meaning she received no score — after she used all three of her attempts at the 1.71 meter mark and failed to clear each one.
The 33-year-old, making her Olympic debut, was captured hysterically crying and visibly shaking in a devastating video that took the internet by storm.
In the heptathlon high jump event, the bar begins at a height of 1.56 meters and is raised by 3 centimeters each time the athlete clears it.
Because Hawkins opted out of recording the points from the previous jumps she cleared — in hopes of racking up higher scores in her next jumps — she ended the event with no points.
“Oh my gosh. I don’t even know what to do. I’m like literally so shocked right now,” Hawkins told reporters.
The former Utah State All-American finished fifth in the 100 meter hurdles earlier in the day, marking the first event of the women’s heptathlon.
Following her gut wrenching high jump finish, Hawkins returned to the purple track for the shot put, where she finished 11th in Group B.
While Thursday’s events leave the Idaho native in last place among the other heptathlon competitors, she has another opportunity to climb the standings with Friday’s long jump and javelin throw.
Britain’s Katarina Johnson-Thompson currently leads the women’s heptathlon, with Belgium’s two-time Olympic champion Nafissatou Thiam in second and Anna Hall of Team USA in third.
The social media star, who amasses over one million followers on Instagram, qualified for her first Olympic Games with a second place finish in the heptathlon Olympic Trials in Oregon.
Hawkins cleared the bar at 1.76 meters at the 2024 World Athletics Indoor Championships and finished fourth.
