A last-second wrong turn cost a lead runner in a popular road race in Atlanta on the Fourth of July.

Ethiopian runner Senbere Teferi, who won in 2022, was the clear favorite this year to win the Peachtree Road Race Elite Women’s race.

During the final stretch of the race, Teferi – instead running through the finish line just a few hundred yards away – followed a police motorcycle as it deviated from the route. The result was a third-place finish for the runner after video shows her running back onto the course.

“As our defending champion, Senbere Teferi, was approaching the finish line, it looks like she momentarily became confused and followed a police motorcycle when it turned off the course,” a statement from the AJC Peachtree Road Race read, per Atlanta First News. “She was within sight of the finish banner, but we understand that in the heat of competition instructions can be misinterpreted. As an organization, we are disappointed whenever we fall short of perfection, and in this case, it appears we did.”

Mark Heim is a reporter for The Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @Mark_Heim. He can be heard on “The Opening Kickoff” on WNSP-FM 105.5 FM in Mobile or on the free Sound of Mobile App from 6 to 9 a.m. daily.