Defeat at the hands of a rival hurts. But what happens when that comes with an injury caused by a rival’s mistake? 4x400m relay national record holder Ericcson Tavares faced this ordeal recently. The World Indoors was meant to be his winning ground, but it featured his run-in with a medical emergency after things went wrong unexpectedly.

During the second leg of the 4x400m relay at the World Indoors, Jamaica’s Delano Kennedy clipped Ericsson Tavares on the Achilles tendon with his spikes as the Portuguese runner entered the first turn. Tavares winced in pain, disrupting his stride, and had to be stretchered off the track, images on social media now show.

On the other hand, Portugal’s anchor, João Coelho, was furious over the incident and later revealed that Tavares cried after crossing the line.

“Stupid! If I had done this, I would have been kicked out immediately,” Coelho said, as per Iltalehti (translated from Finnish).

Giving further insight into the situation, Coelho further revealed, “The situation seemed really serious.”

His anger might have been caused by Portugal’s narrow loss. That’s because after the end of the first split, Portugal was within a hair’s breadth of a podium finish thanks to an impressive start from Afonso. He kept his team in the race and handed the baton over to Ericsson Tavares, but that’s when the incident occurred. That caused problems for Tavares, as he winced in pain, and Portugal dropped from fourth to last.

But despite all of this, Tavares did an exceptional thing.

25-year-old Tavares finished his second leg and handed the baton to Omar Elkhatib, but the incident had already caused damage, leaving Portugal nearly three seconds behind the Netherlands in third. They eventually finished fifth, 2.35 seconds behind Jamaica, who edged the Dutch by 0.06 seconds to take the final podium spot.

Yet despite the incident, the race officials saw nothing intentional on Kennedy’s part and reportedly ruled it an accident. That upset many Portuguese fans, especially after the team finished in their heat and had the second-best overall time (3:04.75) in Round 1, setting a national record in the process. 

Things could have been different, though, especially given that Ericsson Tavares was in great shape going into the relay, despite getting knocked out in the semi-final of the 400m.

Ericsson Tavares reflects on his 400-meter performance

That’s because the 25-year-old hasn’t registered a time outside 46 seconds in the 400m since 2023, when he clocked in at 47.09 in Braga. Since then, Tavares has slowly but steadily improved his performance, going from strength to strength. He registered 46.95 in the 400m short track in January 2024 and then hit 46.19 seconds in July of the same year.

While he hasn’t been able to break into the 45-second category since his 46.19 run, Ericsson Tavares has been consistently hitting in and around that mark. His lowest was a 46.27 in 2025, and he fell below that mark at the World Indoors 400m, despite qualifying for the semi-final, registering at 46.41.

That was because he decided to shake up his program and make a few tweaks, which proved risky, as Tavares finished with the ninth-best time, only qualifying with one of the four fastest times after finishing third in Heat 1.

“I decided to take a bit of a risk, I saw that I was going fast and I tried to push a little to stay ahead, but, at the entrance to the rope, I fell further behind. I’m very happy with the race and I hope I can make it to the semi-final,” Tavares said as per Record.pt.

But the risk paid off in an impressive semi-final performance, where he clocked a personal best of 46.15. However, that wasn’t enough for Tavares to qualify as he finished third in Heat 1, with the ninth-best overall time. Yet that pace continued in Portugal’s 4x400m men’s relay heat, where Ericsson Tavares outran Team USA’s Demarius Smith in his second leg to put his side in second.

They held their nerve until the very end to finish second in the heat and with the second-best time of the round. It also happened to be a national record, as Tavares and company broke the very record they set last year. It marked a major statement from the European nation, although Tavares’ injury leaves a lingering question over what might have been.