Runner Victor Kiplangat ran the wrong way but still managed to win the gold medal in the men’s marathon at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham.

Kiplangat had a healthy lead towards the end of the gruelling morning run through the streets of Birmingham, but his final kilometre or so was not all plane sailing.

As he approached the end, the Ugandan national took a wrong turn and began to run in the wrong direction away from the finish line. The BBC commentary team were as shocked as anyone, as they noticed Kiplangat head the wrong way from an aerial camera shot.

The footage showed the leader quickly turn back round after realising his mistake, with a cry of ‘Oh has he gone the wrong way? Oh no, no, no, no, no!” heard by commentator Steve Cram as he watched on.

Defending the Ugandan’s error and blaming the event organisers, Cram added: “It isn’t his fault. There is a blue line and he followed the vehicle… There should have been a lead bike. That is terrible.”

Despite the diversion Kiplangat’s lengthy lead ensured that the Ugandan did not surrender his position in front, as he quickly recovered before going on to become Commonwealth champion.

Joining Cram in commentary was British running legend Paula Radcliffe, and she also had sympathy for the winner’s lapse in concentration.

Discussing how easy it is to lose the blue line that is printed onto the ground to direct runners, Radcliffe said: “I think he may have been focused on the bike ahead of him. Often the blue line can disappear too just because they haven’t marked out a particular section, and it is a dash not a solid blue line.

“He didn’t notice it had gone the other side of the median down the middle of the road then of course when he did realise he couldn’t get through the barriers and just cross over, he actually had to double back.” After putting the error behind him Kiplangat went on to claim gold with a time of 2:10:55.