Sports officials in northeast China have claimed the gold medal for incompetence after authorising the construction of a running track with right-angled corners.
The track was completed recently as part of a major refurbishment of a large stadium in Heilongjiang province's Tonghe County.
The stadium itself appears to have been impressively built and features an immaculately laid artificial grass football pitch at its centre.
But the running track's designers got their angles badly wrong - painting 90-degree corners onto the track rather than the usual curves.
"It all looks jolly good, apart from the track," a local told Newsnight, a regional television programme.
Newsnight sent a correspondent to examine the track and shed some light on what had gone wrong.
"I felt a bit strange," Li Xiao'ang said after attempting his first lap.
Xiao Gong, a local, was also invited to take a run around the track.
"It was quite tricky taking the corner," she told the reporter.
"Normally curves speed people up but these corners slow you down," the woman mused, after abandoning her attempts to run on the track.
Stadium officials had another explanation.
When Communist Party leaders announced a last-minute visit to the stadium, a quick makeover suddenly became necessary. Painting right angles was faster than painting curves, one official admitted.
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