Jess Hull had to ride out a chaotic and physical semifinal to progress to the women's 1,500m final at the 2025 World Athletics Championships in Tokyo.
"That was like dodgem cars," a stunned Bruce McAvaney said in commentary as several runners were caught out by the slow pace and were tripped by their rivals.
Italian runner Marta Zenoni was disqualified for her part in the rough and ready semifinal, with German Nele Weßel reinstated having been badly impeded by the Italian late on.
In the first semifinal, Hull's compatriot Linden Hall fell just short joining her in Tuesday's final, finishing seventh.
"I'm a bit mad at myself," Hall told ABC Sport.
"I tried to make a big move 600 out. But Faith [Kipyegon] was not one to give up the lead easy ... she wanted to stay at the front and I think I wasted a lot of energy trying to make that move and get past her.
"I would have liked some of that energy in the last 50 metres where I just didn't quite have the response when the girls came up.
"150, 100 to go I thought we were chilling, and then all of a sudden I wasn't and it was over."
Lewis falls just short
Meanwhile in the blue ribband 100m sprint event, Torrie Lewis finished fifth in her semifinal, narrowly missing a spot in the final.
Jamaican legend Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce did make it through though, finishing sixth as American Melissa Jefferson-Wooden ran a championship record 10.61 — the fourth fastest time in history — to claim a dominant gold medal.
Tina Clayton claimed silver for Jamaica with defending champion Sha-Carri Richardson in third.
In the men's 100, Jamaica claimed a 1-2 with Oblique Seville coming over the top of Kishane Thompson to win his first major global title.
Defending champion Noah Lyles completed the podium, fractionally ahead of arch-rival Kenny Bednarek.
Earlier, Reece Holder flew out of the blocks to make the 400m semifinal, running just 0.01 slower than his personal best despite badly tightening up in the closing stages.
"I felt very comfortable," Holder told ABC Sport.
"I really enjoyed it, I put a good, decent race together. Let's see what happens in the semis."
Elsewhere, Yual Reath equalled his season's best performance to make it into the men's high jump final, although Brandon Starc and Roman Anastasios both missed out.
Look back on how all the action unfolded in our live blog.
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