Imago
Source: Instagram/Erik Cardoso
Imago
Source: Instagram/Erik Cardoso
This is not the first time such a bizarre incident has happened. Just last month, Jess McClain and 2 other runners were led off the half-marathon course due to the guide vehicle leading them the wrong way. McClain had said, “This truly sucks for everyone involved,” as she finished 9th due to the officiating error. Days later, not a similar, but at least another error has come into the headlines that was beyond the athlete’s control.
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On April 12, at the São Paulo Athletics Trophy Meet, Erik Cardoso clocked a 9.82 (+1.9 m/s) in the 100m. Although there was no false start or visible infraction, the Olympic athlete could only watch as his national record went unratified.
Cardoso’s 9.82 time was technically a new South American record and a personal best, but the mark stood for barely an hour before the Brazilian Athletics Confederation announced that it would not be ratified, due to a technical error.
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11 hrs ago
Track & Field Gazette reported this on X, “The Brazilian Athletics Confederation has announced that the 9.82s run by Erik Cardoso 🇧🇷 will not be ratified. This was after a technical error by the officiating team was detected during the event, preventing its official recognition.”
The CBAt (Brazilian Athletics Confederation) has yet to issue an official statement. Yet, it marks a heartbreaking conclusion to a remarkable effort by Erik Cardoso, who delivered arguably his finest performance in years.
Many athletes have lost their records to such uncontrollable errors. Ryan Crouser suffered a similar fate at the Millrose Games in 2022 when a faulty laser measuring system showed that he had thrown a world record attempt. The faulty measuring device caused officials to void the competition’s results, even though Crouser had broken his own indoor and outdoor records with the throw.
The Brazilian Athletics Confederation has announced that the 9.82s run by Erik Cardoso 🇧🇷 will not be ratified.
This was after a technical error by the officiating team was detected during the event, preventing its official recognition. https://t.co/7J4Etu679S
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) April 11, 2026
As per World Athletics and national federation rules, ratification depends not just on the raw number but on strict adherence to technical and procedural standards. Thus, as a result, sprinters know that human error can often lead to some of their best performances being erased from the records.
Speaking of Erik Cardoso, hope had followed him to every starting line since last season. At the 2025 Brazilian Championships, he electrified São Paulo by breaking the South American record with a 9.93 run, edging 0.03 seconds off the previous mark and claiming the national title ahead of Felipe Bardi’s 10.06. Many believed he could go even faster this year. He did, but the outcome unfolded in a way he couldn’t control.
Had this latest attempt been ratified, it would have improved Cardoso’s own continental record by 0.11 seconds and been one of the best times of the season so far, ahead of Collen Kebinatshipi’s 9.89.
This comes as no major surprise, though, given that Erik Cardoso has been setting records in 2026. The Brazilian ran a 6.49 to set the South American 60 m indoor record in February 2026, after having clocked the same 6.49 in January under non‑valid (wind‑assisted) conditions.
But this is not the first time that an officiating or technical error has wiped a record, or multiple records, out of existence.
Many such errors have affected track and field records
In fact, this is not the first time something like this has happened to Erik Cardoso. The 26-year-old ran 9.88 in 2025, but it wasn’t the South American record because the wind reading came in at 3.4 m/s, beyond the +2.0 limit.
However, that does not apply to Ivan Pedroso, who leapt to 8.96m in 1995, which would have been the world record at the time. Unfortunately for him, an official stood right in front of the wind gauge, so the official did not record a valid wind reading and thus did not ratify his record.
He is not the only one, as Betty Heidler suffered a similar fate at the 2012 London Olympics when the electronic measuring system misread her hammer throw.
The system did not even read the throw, which meant that her attempt was missing from the records, although that changed after review.
Another major example is Camille Herron, who set a 100-mile record in 2022 at the Jackpot Ultrarunning Festival, clocking 12 hours, 41 minutes, and 11 seconds. It broke her own record of 12:42:40 from 2017, but USA Track & Field (USATF) later revealed that they would not ratify the performance because the course was 716 feet short of 100 miles.
For Erik Cardoso, the clock may have stopped at 9.82, but the record books will say otherwise, a harsh reminder of how unforgiving the sport’s rules can be.
Written by
Edited by
Firdows Matheen