>>>>>one thing i hate about racewalking is the rule that you're suppose to have contact with the ground at all times according to the human eye (or something along those lines). this is simply retarded. after taping track meets from numerous competitors, i've found that just about every racewalker cheats. however, it's according to the human eye, so it never looks like they are. i've had the misfortune of watching the top u.s. compete at bucknell and other events, and after viewing it in slow motion, i just shake my head. their feet are way off the ground. it's such a joke. they basically are getting away with cheating all the time. if i was an official, i'd dq everyone within the first lap to get them off the track. dang!
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Remember the rules of racewalking were written near 100 years ago. Since then training, science has increased performance and thus walkers are now so much fitter, faster, hence the best looking techniques will many times have a slight flight phase. If you see them and they look good, then really there is no problem. They're not cheating, as cheating implies intent, as also now the rules "allow" small flight phases that are not detected by the human eye. Those flight phases you see are very small, about 15-20msec (slow-motion replays, like anything, make them look worse), and given the humen eye threshold is about 30msec, the powers that be consider that type of minute advantage is negligible, which it is. Let's face it, they're along way from running, especially allowing for that fact that running is a different gait anyway. So the rules of racewalking, like any other sport, are entitled to be "adjusted" to allow for modern times and the morern athlete. Even the electronic shoes they trailled a few years ago were adjusted to modern walking allow a small flight phase before they "lit up".