rojo wrote:
Al Sal got GG DQd. Is it time one of his athletes gets DQd?
I personally don't think a DQ is the right penalty. I think there should be a penalty where you put Muir 2nd and Hassan 3rd but I'm sorry - you can't do what Hassan just did.
This was a blatant oversight of mine on the Albany thread. This is another situation where a DQ is inappropriate, but certainly a violation occurred. I think the right penalty is to award Hassan the same time as Muir, and give Muir the second place (so Hassan is "infinitesimally " behind Muir).
So here's the updated list of penalties short of a DQ to consider adding to the rulebook:
1) Time penalties. This would be for a minor infraction like stepping on a line early in a distance race or perhaps some sorts of contact early in races. So if you win by 10 seconds you'll be fine, but if you win the lean at the line, the 2-second penalty for cutting a corner too close will cost you.
2) Fines. This is what should happen to Albany. This was a stupid thing to do, but it was completely accidental, and it didn't affect the final result. It wasn't really competition related. The program should be sanctioned in an off-the-track sort of way (and it should be significant here; that was really bad). I would say that uniform violations should fall in the same category.
3) A longer distance to run. Let's have a false start line that's 1m back for the 100, 2m back for the 200, and 3m back for all other events. You false start, you start from that line. Again, and you're out.
4) An in-race alternative to time-penalties if they could manage it would be a cone in lane 5. You step on the line, and you've gotta run out to the cone on the next lap. Or a stop-and-go sort of penalty. Or one where you have to fade to the back of your pack and then move up again.
5) If a runner interferes with another runner in a clear but not flagrant way towards the end of a middle distance or distance race, the interfering runner should be put one place behind the slowest runner with whom they interfered, and given the same time. No non-interfered runners have their results affected, unless they move up as a result of the at-fault runner moving back.