From what was shown, I don't see it. However, there might have been contact not show when Gomes passes Eliott the first time.
Don't know why he was DQ'd, the guy trying to pass ran into his back. That wasn't Gomes's fault.
BTW, the blond in the PV was sizzling hot!
Maybe what happened at 3:40? Can't quite make it out. At 3:08 an official raises the yellow flag but don't see anything there.
It was a wrong decision. Gomes was passing Berra with authority prior to the much needed cut away to the "had-to-see" high jump attempt. When they return to the race on the curve, Gomes was already in lane one and Berra thought there was room to squeeze thru next to the rail. Gomes shut the door and Berra was forced to chop his stride and go around on the right. I wonder if Berra filed the protest or some power enabled official. Where was that official during the men's 1500?
Good question. I'm basing my judgement on the video. Seems like a strange call in a Master's 1500. Pass that link on and see what the crowd says. Maybe something will come of it.
Here's a statement from Gomes's website:
It seems pretty clear cut to me. I'm not sure about the yellow flag when they had 300m to go, but with 150m to go, Gomes was running the Bowerman curve at the outside of lane 1. This trajectory gave room for Berra to establish a position on his inside shoulder. At this point, there was no interference. However, as Gomes admits in his block, he "did defend it when he felt him (Berra) on his inside." His method of defense was apparently to move into Berra's path, initiating contact. He should have been, and was, disqualified under USATF Rule 163.4.
How in the world from that vid can you say that Berra had room to establish himself inside?Looks like he(Gomes) is glued to the rail? F the rulebook. You try to squeeze by on the rail and you get what's coming.....More gayness from the world of TnF....
nyloco wrote:
It seems pretty clear cut to me. I'm not sure about the yellow flag when they had 300m to go, but with 150m to go, Gomes was running the Bowerman curve at the outside of lane 1. This trajectory gave room for Berra to establish a position on his inside shoulder. At this point, there was no interference. However, as Gomes admits in his block, he "did defend it when he felt him (Berra) on his inside." His method of defense was apparently to move into Berra's path, initiating contact. He should have been, and was, disqualified under USATF Rule 163.4.
I watched the 1500m race live and then watched the replay at least 6 times.
While the whole race is not televised, the infraction appears to be from an incidental bump at 3:35 after the camera comes back from the high jump.
It is clear Berra runs in Gomes from behind which is clearly not Gomes' fault.
I agree that it depends on where the official was viewing this contact but it is ridiculous to throw out an athlete's when it's clearly not his action initiating the infraction!
The USATF should be ashamed of themselves.
Master's athletes work very hard (FYI, I am 32 but train with several world-class master's runners) and to DQ Mark because of such a ridiculous reason is so frustrating to the true fans of running/track.
Hopefully they come to their senses and give Gomes back his rightfully earned gold medal but in the meantime Berra must look at it and realize he got SMOKED in the final 200m which is Mark's M.O.
Anyone who knows Mark knows he is a world-class athlete, gentleman and has the utmost respect for his competition and the system. His classy response to this at fasterthanforty.com is evidence of this.
What top master runners do you train with?
Total crock of sh!t by the officials. It looks as if he didn't alter his path or stride in the slightest. Second place just ran into his back!
My question: What could he have been expected to do DIFFERENTLY?
I didn't see the race, but if I understand from the descriptions on this thread, the guy in the lead tried to cut off the guy attempting to pass on the inside.
I made up a sketch, which if accurate, might show why the leader was DQed.
https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/31anqed95RcN4t1B998mtni0T5xEHaOhZc63jkCr7Ew?feat=directlink
Can anyone who saw this race comment on my diagram?
is this really important?
Anyone notice that Mike Blackmore (4th) set a new single age world record for age 49 with his 4:03.52 ?
I saw the race live and watched the RunnerSpace.com vid. The arrow in your diagram would indicate a much more dramatic change in direction than Gomes exhibited. My take as an eyewitness is, "He shouldn't have been DQ'd." I was a track official in NYS for several years (high school) so I'm better prepared than most to judge...
That said, these things are judgement calls. I guess I'm old school because I believe in the final 150-100 meters of a championship race you should err on the side of letting the guys run... These officials didn't do that. They saw it differently.
But to the guy who asked "Why is this important?" I'd say any time an athlete takes a medal place in a major race and then gets DQ'd, people should re-examine what happened. We do it for basketball; we do it for football. Track athletes train just as hard for far less money. They deserve to be defended where need be.
Thanks for your analysis.
Abdi Hassan did something similar in the NCAA 1500m semi's (cutting in front of someone partially behind him), and the guy behind who tripped him got DQed.
So you are right, it is all the judgement call of the officials on the track. Unfortunately, I don't think they have the resources to refer to video evidence like the NFL or NBA officials have been able to leverage.
Now that I think about it, even if the change in direction wasn't as "dramatic" as the diagram, if the intent was there to cut the guy off from passing on the inside, then I agree with the DQ.
Track racing is ultimately about getting to the finish line first. It is okay to change the direction you are running in order to pass someone, but to intentionally impede someone is against the rules.
Beat your competition to the finish line because you are faster than them, not because you *think* you "own the rail" with your position.
Lesson: Leave as little to chance as possible. Don't put the fate of your race in the hands of your competition or the officials.
This might be the worst DQ ever called. As a leading runner, until you step into lane 2, you always have the right to move back to the rail. There is NEVER a RIGHT to pass on the inside. if you get away with it, great, but it it is like rear ending another car. The person who rear ended the other car, like the person who draws contact by going the inside, is ALWAYS at fault. The only DQ should have been on the second place runner and that would have been weak but nowhere near as unjustified as DQing the leader.
obstacles_for_real wrote:
but to intentionally impede someone is against the rules.
No it's not. If I see someone moving up on the inside (or the outside for that matter) I can move to get in their way as long as I do it before they get there. People get intentionally impeded all the time.