Did Dylan Armstrong Get Jobbed?

LUCAS OLENIUK/TORONTO STAR

Canada's Dylan Armstrong pushes his way toward a new Canadian shot put record at the Beijing Olympics on Aug. 15, 2008. He finished fourth.

There's a bit of a buzz in Canadian circles here that shot putter Dylan Armstrong might have got jobbed in the measurement of the throw that left him one centimetre short of the podium.

There are those in the Canadian camp who believe that this video on YouTube shows a track and field official stepping on the indent that Armstrong’s throw made and, instead of measuring it properly, cost Armstrong about 20 centimetres.

The video is a little grainy and while it may remain a talking point over the web, Athletics Canada officials decided the original measurement was clearly correct after they studied high definition footage yesterday at the CBC studio here.

Armstrong finished fourth with a Canadian record toss of 21.05 metres, one centimetre behind bronze medallist Andrei Mikhnevich of Belarus and five centimetres behind American silver medallist Christian Cantwell. Poland’s Tomas Majewski won the gold.