Image Credit: Twitter screenshot 
A Brazilian runner held a sizable lead at the 2022 New York City Marathon over the weekend before suddenly collapsing more than halfway in.
Daniel Do Nascimento, 24, was doing astonishingly great throughout the first half of the marathon Sunday, at one point having over a two-minute lead on his runner-up adversary.
Daniel Do Nascimento through 25km in 1:13:29 and still has a sizeable lead of over two minutes
Evans Chebet the likely chaser in the closing stages in New York. pic.twitter.com/fvUwk7EqyR https://t.co/B4FjwgStnY
— AW (@AthleticsWeekly) November 6, 2022
He even had time to use the restroom without losing too much of his lead.
But around the 21-mile mark, with only five miles to go, things took a turn for the worse as Do Nascimento slowed to a walk before unexpectedly falling onto the pavement.
The lead runner in the New York Marathon, collapses 21 miles in.
The photographer couldn’t care less about his health.
This is the world we live in. pic.twitter.com/vgITFbXZYT
— Freedom World
(@FreedomWorld_) November 6, 2022
The fall cost Do Nascimento the race, as the second place challenger, Kenyan runner Evans Chebet, quickly overtook him and went on to win.
Warning: sensitive content
Early leader Daniel Do Nascimento is out of the race and receiving attention from first responders.
The marathon is brutal. pic.twitter.com/UFaoCPUMFD
— CITIUS MAG (@CitiusMag) November 6, 2022
According to LetsRun.com, who spoke with Do Nascimento’s agent, the runner collapsed due to low blood sugar and dehydration.
“The problem was that he underestimated the humidity and the warm[th] of NY today and in any case he open[ed] too fast,” the agent told LetsRun, adding he also had “diarrhea due to something he drank during the race.”
“He got a bad experience and he is a very aggressive boy but when you are 24 years old and only 4 marathons finished you can make a big mistake,” she stated.
The temperature the day of the race was reportedly 68° Fahrenheit with a high of 72° and a dew point of 61.
Do Nascimento had also previously collapsed during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which were postponed until July 2021 due to the pandemic.
The runner fortunately recovered.
While Do Nascimento’s vaccine status is unknown, his sudden fall comes as a countless, steady stream of athletes and otherwise healthy young people have suddenly collapsed or been stricken with heart complications and other ailments over the past few years since the introduction of the Covid-19 vaccine.