Ethiopa's Lamecha Girma needed to be stretchered off track by medics after suffering a horrendous fall in the men's steeplechase final at the Paris 2024 Olympics on Wednesday.

Girma sprinted into second ahead of his rivals before he appeared to underestimate the jump in front of him.

As he leapt over the hurdle, he lost his balance when landing and fell flat onto his front, smashing his head on the ground in a nasty incident.

The runner was left laying still on the track while his fellow competitors behind him managed to avoid being collected by the Ethiopian. When the track was clear, medical staff quickly rushed to his aid to give him treatment.

Girma was later carried off the track with an oxygen mask and a neck brace attached in concerning scenes for spectators, who could only watch on as the 23-year-old long distance runner was taken away for further assessment.

It is not yet known what his condition is or the severity of Girma's injury. There is also no indication as to whether he was conscious following the fall.

Back in June of 2023, Girma smashed the world record that had stood for 19 years by 1.5 seconds - running the 3,000-metre race in a time of 7:52:11.

He also won the silver medal in the same event at the 2019 World Championships in Doha, the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, and the 2023 World Championships in Budapest.

With that pace, he would have been one of the contenders to go for a medal. But after his unfortunate trip, the race continued without Girma and was eventually won by Morocco's Soufiane El Bakkali.

USA's Kenneth Rooks took silver ahead of Kenya's Abraham Kibiwot, with only a 0.06 second gap to separate the two.

In winning back-to-back races, El Bakkali made history by becoming the second man to successfully defend his Olympic steeplechase title, following in the footsteps of Finland's Volmari Iso-Hollo in 1936.

The 28-year-old - who also won gold at the past two World Championships - ran a season's best time of 8:06.05 to clinch gold inside the Olympic arena.