Have you ever seen a cat beat the first place marathon runner to the finishing line?
Well, there's always a first for everything.
In an unexpected turn of events, a cat sprinted through the final stretch during the 2023 Chongqing Fuling Half Marathon on Oct. 29, 2023, to emerge as the winner.
The half marathon race is 21km from start to finish.
The cat won by more than a whisker.
Uninvited runner on the track
In a video posted on Chinese platform Tencent QQ, the cat could be seen sprinting across the running track.
Another video of the cat posted by user @minhau_pet on Instagram has garnered over 13 million views.
Gif via @minhau_pet/ Instagram
The video started with the cat jumping out from the sidelines past one running marathoner, narrowly missing him.
Seemingly frenzied, it stumbled a bit before sprinting forward ahead of the marathoner.
Gif via @minhau_pet/ Instagram
The uninvited feline contender then made a beeline for the finish line.
It left the marathoner in the dust, having widened the gap between them by a considerable distance.
Finally, it sprinted past the finishing line, but was unfortunately unable to tear through the finisher banner due to its small stature.
Winner winner kitty dinner
It appears that the marathoner the cat overtook was the actual human winner, Wang Wanfu, who clocked a time of 1 hour 8 minutes and 36 seconds.
Despite his commendable achievement, the cat stole the spotlight, emerging as the winner in people's hearts.
Comments under the Instagram post awarded the cat with medal emojis and named the cat "the winner" of the race.
Many also expressed amusement at the cat's unexpected appearance, calling the cat "cute" and "funny".
One naysayer, however, did not fail to notice that the feline had started the race late in the game, and pointed out that it had "cheated".
A fan of the cat did not welcome the comment, replying that she "saw nothing".
It seems that cuteness always prevails in the end.
Top photos from @minhau_pet/Instagram