--- title: Man Faceplants, Falls at Tilburg 2018 Race, Becomes Meme description: French runner Jimmy Gressier's epic (but victorious) faceplant at the 2018 European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg became a meme. canonical: https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/ author: Cady Lang article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-12-10T15:52:40.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T07:56:20.827Z og:title: Runner Wins Internet By With Victorious Fall at Finish Line og:description: At the European Cross Country Championships og:url: https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97b110781fa7e983/69894129929fad88bdbf24b4/man-face-plants-while-running-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 2000 og:image:height: 1125 og:image:alt: water sprays from under running shoes runner men og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Runner Wins Internet By With Victorious Fall at Finish Line twitter:description: At the European Cross Country Championships twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97b110781fa7e983/69894129929fad88bdbf24b4/man-face-plants-while-running-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Runner's Epic Faceplant at the Finish Line Turns Into a Really Victorious Meme > Sponsored content. 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Every edition is assembled by TIME editors rather than generated automatically. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-brief-2026q3/newsletters?i=c85d834f-7859-46b2-8460-2c49a8460da1&cr=time-nl-brief-2026q3-v1)  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 10, 2018 3:52 PM UTC  water sprays from under running shoes runner men water sprays from under running shoes runner men sportpoint—Getty Images/iStockphoto  by [Cady Lang](https://time.com/author/cady-lang/)  ## Cady Lang Dec 10, 2018 3:52 PM UTC Jimmy Gressier defended his title as the Under-23 European men’s [cross country](http://time.com/4560708/harvard-cross-country-scouting-report/) champion on Sunday in [Tilburg, the Netherlands](http://time.com/4257511/bear-balloon-video/), but it’s his victorious moment at [the finish line](http://time.com/5087662/running-plank-core-exercise/) that has captured the attention of the Internet. video id=5729086730001\] The 21-year-old French runner attempted to celebrate his imminent win with two French flags, but in the excitement, stumbled and fell — faceplanting his way through the finish line tape with a final time of 23:37. As might be expected, the Internet was far more delighted with Gressier’s faceplant and fall as opposed to his second win of the Under-23 European cross country title and wasted no time in making memes of the glorious, mud-filled moment, which might just be remembered for longer than his wins. These Twitter users found Gressier’s hilarious faceplant at the finish line endlessly relatable, going so far as to say that his tumble paralleled the way they approached life always. > [](https://twitter.com/ElroRaps/status/1071819643977953281) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FMouse%5Fxx/status/1071861461863952384) Others reveled in the victory, recounting the times that they had achieved success, albeit awkwardly. > [](https://twitter.com/Ma%5Ftzy/status/1071777430229147648) > [](https://twitter.com/shawnwright94/status/1071816914203262976) Congratulations to Gressier on his win and his newfound meme status! ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/"},"headline":"Runner's Epic Faceplant at the Finish Line Turns Into a Really Victorious Meme","datePublished":"2018-12-10T15:52:40.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T07:56:20.827Z","description":"At the European Cross Country Championships in Tilburg","url":"https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/","keywords":["Newsfeed","viral"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97b110781fa7e983/69894129929fad88bdbf24b4/man-face-plants-while-running-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Cady Lang","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/cady-lang/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt97b110781fa7e983/69894129929fad88bdbf24b4/man-face-plants-while-running-meme.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"water sprays from under running shoes runner men","caption":"water sprays from under running shoes runner men","creditText":"sportpoint—Getty Images/iStockphoto","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5475302/runner-fall-meme/","name":"Runner's Epic Faceplant at the Finish Line Turns Into a Really Victorious Meme"}}]}] ```