IAAF has a chance to correct their false start

Let's face it, there's no perfect system for false starts.

And even if there was, you gotta doubt that the tall foreheads running the IAAF would recognize it.

But what they need to realize is they've definitely got the wrong one right now – and they'd better take advantage of the chance to change it at their meeting Sunday.

It took the sublime and splendid sprinter Usain Bolt jumping the gun in Sunday's 100-metre final at the world championships in Daegu, Korea, to put the spotlight on a cruelly unfair false start rule.

There is no room for error, human or otherwise, under the rule instituted at the start of last year. It's one false start and you're out.

There's a reason false starts were allowed for so long in track and field – and that was in recognition of the adrenaline pumping through these finely turned athletes at the start of a race. To expect them to never have one and penalize them so severely just doesn't make sense.

As Perdita Felicien also noted, there are also bad race starters out there, ones who make it difficult to follow their cadence. Think of a bad hockey referee and how they can ruin the flow of a hockey game. Try starting a race to be decided by hundredths of a second with someone like that at the helm.

The previous system of allowing one false start among the whole field and then having the next false start by an individual lead to a DQ is probably the best of a bad bunch of methods.

Canadian sprint great Bruny Surin is right when he says a false start can lend a lot to the drama of a race. Everyone is on tenterhooks as you wait for the runners to line up again.

Okay, the old old rule of letting each runner have two false starts before getting kicked out could get a little crazy and you could understand the TV execs being upset about that.

But to let television dictate to the point where the new unforgiving rule was added is a disservice to the athletes, who have trained so hard for that big moment and don't deserve to lose it because of a nervous twitch.

It was a disservice, too, to the ultimate winner of the 100-metre final, Bolt's countryman Yohan Blake.

“For the next two years no one's really going to be thinking that he's outright world champion,” said Felicien. “They're only going to talk in the context of 'Oh well, Usain Bolt wasn't there, Usain Bolt false started.' So that's going to overshadow him.”

And overshadow the sport.

 (REUTERS PHOTO)

Comments

[Guelphdad]

How long is the race, less than 10 seconds right? So how in the hell do they let TV dictate anything about the race. That's less time than a TV commercial slot.

[mike casey]

Why not tack on any negative time difference, between each runner's start and the gun start time, to the time at the finish line. This is technically possible and would make everything totally accurate and fair. False starts would be history.

[ReubenG]

What if they did something similar to drag racing where they had a sequence of lights at the feet of the runners...red...then yellow...then green so that they could follow and have timing down?

[Diana]

Randy, have you visited www.letsrun.com ?
Video, conversation earlier this morning.

[jeff]

Totally stupid rule change.

The BEST 100m runner in the World DQ'd by a false start...dumbdeedum.

Revert to the old rules. NOW!

[Ottcdrfurniture]

I disagree with:

“For the next two years no one's really going to be thinking that he's outright world champion,” said Felicien. “They're only going to talk in the context of 'Oh well, Usain Bolt wasn't there, Usain Bolt false started.' So that's going to overshadow him.”

The 1993 Los Angeles Kings never doubted that they were the Western Conference Champions, neither did fans outside Toronto... Its wrong, it sucks, but its life... (Am I a Leaf Fan shamelessly just taking an opportunity to make this all about the Kerry Fraser thing - Absolutely!) At the end of the day, the call was made, somebody lost because of it, it is part of sports.

[Thane]

I REALLY dislike the 'second by anybody DQ' rule. It's odd to allow one person to false-start unpunished, but then to punish somebody harshly for doing the exact same thing. (To go back to your hockey analogy, it would be like bringing the puck back the first time anybody iced it, but to give a two-minute minor for the second team to ice the puck)

Everybody should have the same number of allowable false starts - if that means that each runner can have one, then I don't see a problem with that.

[Guelphdad]

And of course those Leafs may have lost the game 6 in LA because of the missed call, but they sure as hell blew it at home in game 7. Somehow that's almost ALWAYS missed by the fans wanting to blame Kerry Fraser for the missed call.

[Ted]

OK - So we agree that the current rule is unfair and has the potential to limit the legitimacy of the event, so here is another idea. Upon being charged with a false start, why not move the charged runner back 2 or 3 metres ( even 5 metres). They still get to run and the penalty can be overcome. Imagine Bolt starting 5m back and chasing down the field over the course of 100m, catching each competitor then leaning at the tape for the win. What a race that would be!

[A Starter]

While this measure may be harsh, it is equitable for all concerned. The only reason that there is this great gnashing of teeth is that a big fish got caught!! The rule is not "new" as it has been in place since Jan. 1, 2010, so everybody, including Mr. Bolt, has been running with it!! The genesis of the rule traces back to Linford Christie in Atlanta in 1996 and all the shenanigans when he was DQed for two false starts. At this point, there is nothing on the agenda to change the rule for the next two years, so it is here to stay.

[Peter Jurenovskis]

Talk about playing to TV execs? You should also be talking about playing to the athletes! Why should Usain or anyone else be treated differently?
Suck it up track fans! Swimming uses the no false start rule. When swimmers get onto the blocks, they know the rules. If they don't play by the rules, they get disqualified...even greats like Ian Thorpe and Michael Phelps!

[Steve]

I know I am in the minority. The IAAF rule where first false start is charged to the field and the second offender is ejected gave one an advantage because they could take a chance by anticipating the start. If they left the blocks before 0.10 seconds after the sound of the starter’s pistol, they had another chance. It gave a disadvantage to the honest runners.

The rule where everyone would be allowed one false start could drag the meet. The delays would impact other runners. They warm up and prepare for their event based on the schedule. A multitude of false starts has messed me up. I ran the 880/800 … the start was delayed 38 minutes because of all the false starts.

A false start is not the only way to be DQed ... plus there other lapses in memory, an injury and other events that can impact the outcome of years of training.

The IAAF should keep the one and out rule, like swimming.

[Ella]

It's funny how people who have never competed in their life (except to see who can eat the most greasy chips while watching tv) is always the first to be commenting about how the rules should NOT be changed. This was a high profile event that people pay big money to see, only to be robbed of that just because a stupid rule. As a former sprinter, when you compete the adrenaline takes over and every nerve in your body is on edge no matter how many times you have done it before. I'm suprise more poeple do not false start. Rule MUST GO!!!!!

[Peter]

I can't believe I'm reading comments about a HOCKEY game played EIGHTEEN YEARS AGO on this comment thread !! :~)

[Carolyn]

I find it funny that people are upset with the rule because Bolt was DQ'd, like the rule was there to diminish the field. He knew the rules, has played by them, has been workin gon his normally awful star and was caught. He is over it why can't you? Also, the field wasn't diminished because of a DQ...think who else wasn't there but will run later in the competition...Powell, Gaitlin, and others...don't doubt some mental games going on...no one wanted to be blown away the year before the Games.