The NCAA’s Big Ten Track and Field Championships are known for fast times and fierce competition, but nobody expected the track itself to catch on fire—literally.
During the penultimate meet of the 2025 NCAA indoor season at the Fall Creek Pavilion in Indianapolis, a bizarre incident involving a phone charger led to flames on the 60-meter straightaway, leaving a blackened patch on the track and a lot of confusion.
So, what exactly happened?
According to multiple sources, the chaos started when a phone charger or battery pack, likely from a Nebraska athlete’s bag, ended up on the track.
At some point, a competitor wearing track spikes stepped on the charger, causing it to explode.
Eyewitnesses reported hearing audible pops before the device burst into flames. Officials quickly stomped out the fire, but not before it left an unsightly burn mark across lanes five and six.
“The person who is responsible can’t respond because they don’t have a phone anymore… probably,” quipped one commenter on social media. Others chimed in with jokes like, “The Big Ten Championship is officially underway, and the track is already on fire.”
The fire broke out between the Men’s Heptathlon 60-meter sprint and the Men’s Mile Run trials.
While the flames were a safe distance from the athletes, the track’s damage forced meet organizers to adapt.
The 60-meter and 60-meter hurdles semifinals were reseeded, shrinking heats from eight to six runners and requiring a two-section final to accommodate the changes. Fortunately, nobody was injured, and the rest of the meet continued as scheduled.
While a track catching fire is certainly unusual, the underlying cause—an exploding lithium-ion battery—is not unheard of.
Lithium-ion batteries are widely used in smartphones, chargers, and other electronic devices due to their high energy density. However, when these batteries are punctured or damaged, they can short-circuit, leading to thermal runaway—a fancy term for “it catches on fire.”
In fact, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reports thousands of incidents each year involving battery fires or explosions in consumer electronics. The combination of a metal track spike and a damaged battery is a perfect recipe for a small-scale disaster.
In response to the incident, meet organizers promised an immediate review of safety protocols.
Though this event was a freak accident, it highlighted the need for caution when athletes bring personal electronics into competition spaces. The Big Ten Conference has not indicated whether new rules will be implemented, but the incident will certainly serve as a cautionary tale for future meets.
