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After hurdler Will Sharman false started at the European Champs, he was criticising the current rule and raised the point of what would happen if Usain Bolt false started. Commentor Steve Cram wasn't at all sympathetic and said that Bolt would be disqualified like anyone else. But would he? Take the Manchester 150m race last year. Now the whole event was built around Bolt. City streets were closed, and thousands of people turned up just to see Bolt run. I don't believe Bolt would have been disqualified. The organisers would have found a way for him to run. Someone in the crowd made a noise. A car backfired ( half a mile away). I distant police siren was to blame. The problem I have with false start disqualifications is that the fans are penalised as well as the athlete.
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Re: False Starts?
Sharman wasn't talking about Bolt at Manchester in that interview, he specifically said, what would happen if Bolt false-started at a Diamond League, implying that the organisers would not permit a big star like Bolt to be DQ'ed. That is where Cram disagreed with him, and I'm with Crammy on this one. Sharman's rant came across a bit like sour grapes, and with more than a tinge of emotion, which again makes one wonder if these trackside interviews are hurting athletes more than helping them....
Bolt also knows he would be DQ'ed if he false-started, which is why he stays in his blocks, and doesn't pre-empt the starter. He knows he can still win by staying in his blocks. This is where he was in a different situation from Sharman, who was in bad form, and not sure if he would make it thru to the final, which is why he was trying to get as fast a start as possible. That's why athletes like Sharman are far more likely to false-start than Bolt.My heart is still in the Caribbean.... -
Re: False Starts?
Cram 1
Sharman/Idiot 0Comment
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Shouldn't/wouldn't the same rules apply in Manchester as in the Diamond League? Or would the rules be more relaxed in a Manchester type event. And, of course the rules are not consistent. Why, for example, are multi-eventers allowed an extra false start. That doesn't make sense. And, how come a long jumper can foul on his/her first jump but still be allowed to continue.
And, of course, "blind eyes" are turned if it suits the organisers. In a recent Grand Prix meeting, a pace-maker false started but was not disqualified.Comment
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I'm really not bothered at what happens at events like that one in Manchester, because they're just circus sideshows put on to entertain a public that's not used to following athletics. I couldn't care less whether the false-start rule is applied rigorously there or not....
I'm more concerned with what Sharman said, as to whether it would be applied at the Diamond League, where the big stars run. And at one of the DL meets, one of their big stars false-started there, and was DQ'ed. That was Shelly-Ann Fraser, and she moaned about the rule, just like Sharman. But just like Sharman, I have no sympathy for her. They both knew the rules before they took part in the competition, and if they're out for false-starting, then, tough!
So, Sharman's logic is questionable - if SAF could be DQ'ed for false-starting at Shanghai, and she was supposed to be one of their main draws, then I don't see why anyone else would be given preferential treatment on the DL circuit....
Now, Frank, if you're saying that the DQ rule should be reviewed because it's not fair, that's a different argument from what Sharman was saying....My heart is still in the Caribbean....Comment
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Track and Field would really be shooting itself in the foot if it were to disqualify Usain. Usain is track and field! The rule is too strict! In the recent soccer world cup final, most commentators thought that the ref should have set off ( i.e. disqualified ) some Dutch players but he, the ref, thought better of it because it would have spoiled the match! In Will Sharman's case, there was a very long hold, and I said to my wife, "there's going to be a false-start here". Sharman has a valid case about long holds, in my view. And, of course, as previously stated, field event athletes are allowed multiple mistakes i.e. going out of the circle, etc.Comment
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Let me first say that I am FOR the new false start rule. I believe that athletes need to exhibit more control in the blocks. But, there are some glaring issues with how we measure a false start.
-Calibration. If I remember correctly, and I could be wrong, from a conversation with a technical official, there is really no way to calibrate the pressure sensitive equipment and as we all know: electronic equipment can be 'tempermental'. Also, should not the pressure sensitive equipment be calibrated after a set number of races? Each race? Each event? Currently, that doesn't happen.
-Consistency. Each Block manufacturer uses a different standard and the IAAF (again, to my knowledge) has NOT required that their be a common measurement from which all blocks manufacturers should adhere. This is a recipe for disaster.
Also, anyone who actually thinks that USAIN BOLT will be disqualified from any WC/OLY race in the forseeable future is smoking crack. Not to invoke shades of Nebiolo/Evangelista/Rome, but Lamine Diack would go down to the track, personally, to prove to the starter that he was in error (if he had not already instructed starters never to DQ USAIN, previously).Comment
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Re: False Starts?
A coouple things:
Usain will be DQed with a blatant/provable false start. You have only to remember the OG DQs of defending champ Linford Christie in the 1996 OG 100 and co-WR holder Jurgen Hingsen in the 1988 OG decathlon.
I think anyone who watched what happened with starters in the late 1970's and early '80s when the U.S. college and high school rules changed to the no-false-start saw starters openly trying to save sprinters from themselves. Starters are much quicker to call up the field than they used to be, and are frequently looking for excuses to recall a field without a false start: crowd noise, blocks slipping. The fact is, good starters don't want to be DQing people without clear evidence. On the other hand, I won't vouch for trigger happy high school starters who are trying to exert control more than caring about starting a race fairly.Comment
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I can't believe that they would not disqualify UB at a DL event or an international championships! To treat him different would totally destroy all credibility of the sport. :shock:
Having said that, I am against the new rule given the potential for electronic equipment problems and the judgmental aspects of overriding equipment problems.Comment
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There is no correlation between a field event athlete fouling one throw or jump and false starting a one-off race. Field event rules provide for multiple attemts, best one scores. A runner can be expected to remain in the blocks or behind the line until the gun goes off but to require that all attempts be fair is.... not realistic.Originally posted by FrankSComment
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Especially since there WAS a block malfunction at a Diamond League meet that caused someone to be incorrectly DQ'd. I can't remember the name. It was the same meet that showed people with 0.4 reaction times in the 200m.Originally posted by Chrome DomeComment
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The false start rule is one of the best things that has happened to the sport in a long time. All the gamesmanship has been eliminated. Now we'll actually see better starts. All the runners will be focused on the gun and not on each other.
The next thing that needs to be fixed is the amount of time allowed for runners to get on their marks. They're allowed far too much time to pray and meditate and stare off into space, etc. All that psyching stuff should be done before they hit the track. Once they hit the track they should be ready to run.
It shouldn't take 15 minutes to run a race that last 10 seconds or less. The time saved could be used to give the field events more exposure. And we might even be allowed to watch a 5k race without breaking.Comment
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I thought you had written medicate at first. :POriginally posted by cornstarchwilsonComment
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Re: False Starts?
:lol:Originally posted by DaisyComment
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