Belarusian long jumper Nastassia Mironchyk-Ivanova missed out on winning the gold medal at the World Championships in Daegu, South Korea because of her pony tail. True story.

Mironchyk-Ivanova leaped 6.90 meters on her third jump -- good for first place -- but her hair touched the sand, leaving her with a mark of 6.74 meters. The winner, American Brittney Reese, jumped 6.82 meters. She kept her hair up in a bun.

Losing because of the mark left by the pony tail not only cost Mironchyk-Ivanova the gold medal, but also $60,000 in prize money.

We've heard of some pretty brutal ways to lose events, but this may be the worst. Actually, this incident might just top it.

Bookmark Medal Detector for more on the Olympics from Larry Brown Sports and other Yardbarker bloggers.