Good thing it wasn't on an old cinder track. Ouch!
Good thing it wasn't on an old cinder track. Ouch!
It's all about timing. In essence, a dive is just an exaggerated lean. To say that it can't work is to say that leaning doesn't work either. Christian Smith probably got on to the '08 Olympic team with it.
Clearly, Doughty planned on using the dive, (and says so in his quote) which is why it is so full-out.
Watch the video and decide for yourself. I, for one, think it definitely helped him.
Eh, I don't know, he has to take a couple choppy steps to load up for the dive which slowed him down for sure. I think if he runs through with a well-timed lean at the line he would've been a closer second place, who knows maybe coulda nipped him for first.
From the picture it doesn't look like diving, it looks like flying! And flying usually works...
This pic blows that one out of the water.
What makes it awesome is when he pounds the track
Mud pic wrote:
This pic blows that one out of the water.
http://199to155.blogspot.com/2011/05/mud-xc-pic.html
How did his number stay clean while the rest of him wasn't?
Mud pic wrote:
This pic blows that one out of the water.
http://199to155.blogspot.com/2011/05/mud-xc-pic.html
No, no it doesn't.
C/M Runner wrote:
How did his number stay clean while the rest of him wasn't?
Most likely the mud happened pre-race. He slid in the mud with friends, then put on his race number to go race.
I don't understand how anyone has the energy to dive at the end of an 800.
Im gonna be really tempted to do this in my next race
For reference purposes:
It actually looked like the dive helped close the gap.
It wound up being only a 0.02 difference and he was behind the whole way.
We need to promote this type of racing to help the sport.
A well-timed dive absolutely would vault you in front of your opponent if you're neck and neck like that.
"Burcham (in red) wins"
that's like saying the kid with short hair wins.
Actually, I think the white guy won.
rojo wrote:
That is unbelievable.
How do I get in touch with whoever took that photo? I want to get permission to use it. It should be "Quote of the day" or something unreal.
If you know who took the picture or who I can contact about it, please email me at
robertjohnson@letsrun.com.
It says in the corner of the photo that it was taken by Jim "papa" Parsons of Tristateracer.com...
RE: Here's an almost identical one: Zachary Torres dives to tie for 15th with Dylan Sorensen at FLCC.
http://www.milesplit.com/files/usa/xc2008/121308/torres-sorensenfh-fl39a5c1.jpg
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Those finish line photos (and video) are great! Zach Torres played baseball in high school so maybe he was used to diving for home plate!
What is Christian Smith up to nowadays? It seems as though he has dropped off the radar.
There should be a whole special article devoted to diving at the line - these two guys in this thread, Christian Smith, David Neville, plus discussion of whether it actually works or not.
