Kemboi DQ'd from Steeple

douglas burke wrote:

douglas burke wrote:http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athletics/Kemboi-in-retirement-U-turn-promises-fireworks-in-London-/1100-3349426-43473/index.html

He is coming out of retirement.

good

douglas burke wrote:

douglas burke wrote:http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athletics/Kemboi-in-retirement-U-turn-promises-fireworks-in-London-/1100-3349426-43473/index.html

He is coming out of retirement.

Hells yeah! GET IT KEMBOI!

Les wrote:

He actually did cut the cones, but even not counting that, since the 400m distance is measured 30 centimeters out from the curb, running inside the line means there's no way he could have run a 400m lap, and by extension 3k. Intention has nothing to do with it. Track officials are not mindreaders, they can only judge an athlete's actions. If a 200m sprinter steps on the outside line of the lane inside him on a curve, that sprinter is DQed because he/she has a) run in another runner's lane, and b) run less than 200m.

He certainly went further than 30cm from the curb more than once running in and around the pack.

He ran more than 3000 meters.

Larry83 wrote:

The French did nothing wrong here. The rules apply to everybody and we can't just let people bend them or break them because it was an "accident" or they are "the greatest ever" or whatever.

Kemboi did commit a rules infraction, but the French exercised poor judgment in wanting him DQ'd because it had completely no bearing on the competition.

If Kemboi had not stepped out, the Frenchmen would have still had absolutely no chance to finish 3rd.

This is like making a teacher give a student an "F" on paper because it left out a comma when the paper would have otherwise earned an "A". Ridiculous and asinine! Right in line with the reputation France has.

I am disappointed by the decision to ban Kemboi. That's how our sport treats the Babe Ruth of 3000mSC. I realize what the rule states. Kemboi did run well over 3000m during said race. Circa 1979, a runner (2nd place finisher) filed a protest that I cut corners in a 2 mile XC race. Since I won by over 20 seconds, my corner cutting wasn't seen has an advantage significant enough to change the outcome of said race. Same thing in 2016 men's 3000mSC. I hope Kemboi now comes back and continues world class racing.

Shaunae Miller did complete 400m fully. She begin it with her entire body behind the start line, and then her torso across the finish line. Thus the distance is greater than 400m. If we want to be specific, she probably covered 401m (actually more, but 401m in terms of how lanes are measured). Also, what she did is not against the rules in any way, nor is it abnormal.

Sorry, not the same logic. The same logic would have been Shaunae Miller stepping on the inside of her lane around the turn.

800 On Pure Hate wrote:

He certainly went further than 30cm from the curb more than once running in and around the pack.

He ran more than 3000 meters.

In a race you don't even out the extra distance you run when you pass people by cutting a turn inside the cones, and then claim it evens out to be at least 3000m. You don't get to pick which 3000m route you run. So don't interpret that literally, dude.

That said, I think Kemboi's step was accidental and didn't help him. The rules should allow for a single step inside the lane as long as it doesn't materially help you.

Just re watch it on NBC. Approaching the water on the same lap that Rojo posted a picture of the exit of the water

Awesome. He's got my support.

douglas burke wrote:

douglas burke wrote:http://www.nation.co.ke/sports/athletics/Kemboi-in-retirement-U-turn-promises-fireworks-in-London-/1100-3349426-43473/index.html

He is coming out of retirement.

Gutless. Nothing like another Frenchman to come in after the victors have done the work to claim victory.

First off, let's get some things out of the way:This guy

and this guy

are wrong. Every time they are asked to provide evidence for these assertions, none is given. Everyone who re-watches video, even in the link that allows you to see it in slow-motion, cannot see any infraction before the water jump. Even the IAAF only cites an infraction after the water jump. Face it, the only infraction was what rojo showed in the photo on LR.

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For those who say that this is payback or justification for Mekhissi getting DQ'ed for taking his shirt off at 2014 Europeans, you are insane. A European Championships gold is NOT equal to an Olympic medal. A European Championships gold is INFERIOR to an Olympic medal. Something remotely equal would be if this had happened to Kemboi in the African Championships or the Commonwealth Games.

Furthermore, nothing that a previous group of track officials did in a different meet means that it should be done here too. This is NOT the International Association of Athletics Fairness.

As Gandhi said, "An eye for an eye leaves the world blind."

Mekhissi should know how terrible it felt to get DQ'ed for celebrating (which gave him no race-advantage), and chosen not to pursue a DQ.

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For those who think it was the French federation who pursued a DQ independently of Mekhissi, I cite the following:

(1.) Mekhissi was holding 3 fingers while crossing the line.

(2.) In a post-race interview, Mekhissi said he thought Kemboi should be "eliminated" (DQ'ed).

(3.) A protest was not filed until well after Mekhissi had crossed the finish-line.

(4.) If Mekhissi had not encouraged the French federation to file the protest, he could have discouraged it, blocked it, or asked them to withdraw it -- but he didn't.

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To the clowns who say that he did not run the full distance, you are wrong. He put one foot 4 inches inside the line, once. Did he also place one foot 4 inches or more outside the line at least once during the race? He did? Wow! I guess that infraction is cancelled out. Looks like he really did run (more than) 3000m after all.

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If everyone wants to be such sticklers for the rules, WHY WASN'T MEKHISSI DISQUALIFIED??? He did not give an honest effort. He admitted to seeing the infraction during the race, and clearly adjusted his race-plan to hanging back away from the top 3. Not an honest effort. They clearly had no problem doing this to Makhloufi in the 2012 Olympics (even though he was eventually re-instated). And the "rules are the rules," as so many keep mindlessly regurgitating. SO WHY NOT DISQUALIFY MEKHISSI???

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Now, onto the real meat & potatoes.

KEMBOI BEING DISQUALIFIED SHOULD BE THE HALLMARK, POSTER-CHILD SYMPTOM OF WHAT IS WRONG WITH ATHLETICS (TRACK & FIELD).

Remember all that talk about people worrying (rightly so) that Track & Field's popularity and marketability had fallen off too far? Well how does it look to the casual viewer when one foot of one competitor once touches immediately inside the line, and his entire results are nullified? It's not like he just gets a season's best taken away, and he doesn't even 'just' get his medal taken away, he gets his placement in the race and the knowledge to the world that he finished the race taken away. Like he was never even there. How fun is that for a viewer? How does that generate new fandom or retain fans?

Imagine if it was found through video-review after the completion of an NFL game that a quarterback had thrown 1 single pass 4 inches beyond the line of scrimmage. In the NFL, they would say, "Whoops, I guess our referees didn't catch that in real-time; we'll try to do better next time." But if track & field rules were used, the quarterback would be retroactively DQ'ed, as if he had never been there, therefore invalidating every snap he had taken, therefore removing all those points from the board, and perhaps giving the win to the other team if they had not earned it. How is that fun for the fans? How is that good for the sport?

In the NFL, there are penalties. On an offensive penalty, you move back 5, 10, or 15 yards, depending on the infraction, and try again. In gymnastics, you get deductions from your score, and there are also penalties independent of that. In both sports, you step out of bounds, and it's either a stopping of the clock or a penalty/deduction, NOT removal of the competitor from the results.

In this context, track is more like gymnastics than football, in that you never really get a second chance to "try that play again." So you can't ask an athlete to move back 5 yards and keep running. But there IS a score: your finishing time. THERE SHOULD BE A PENALTY ASSESSED, SUCH AS A TENTH OF A SECOND OR HALF OF A SECOND ADDED TO ONE'S FINISHING TIME. If, after assessing the penalty, Kemboi still has a better finishing time than Mekhissi, he gets the bronze. Otherwise, he doesn't. That's how it should play out. It makes Kemboi accountable, it forces Mekhissi to give an honest effort, and it allows the fans to enjoy a great performance without leaving them feeling jaded.

DQ's should be reserved for things like blatant pushing, or when an athlete chooses to avoid the curve entirely and cut directly across the field. That is DQ-worthy. One foot touching inside the line is not. In the NFL, the referree decides whether he saw pass-interference or incidental or allowable contact. In T&F, they should also decide if the athlete made an honest effort to run the distance across the entire race. If so, just add the time-penalty. If not, only then should there be a DQ. Kemboi should not have been DQ'ed.

Field events need to be fixed just the same. It's ludicrous that an athlete could ever no-mark (NM) or no-height (NH) in any major meet, yet it happens even in the Diamond League. How is that fun for fans? But I digress.

Finally, for those who think I'm just a Kemboi-fanboy, I also think that Mekhissi should not have been DQ'ed in 2014 for removing his shirt; he should have had a time penalty added. Unfortunately, as it is for Kemboi, time penalties weren't / aren't in the rules (yet?).

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And finally, thank God that Kemboi came to his senses:

All these people saying Kemboi shouldn't have been disqualified with watching the whole race and getting the evidence is like the Michael Brown shooting. People jump to conclusions regardless of the actual evidence that is there or is later found.

I took 1 minute to watch the race and it is as clear as day to see Kemboi pass about 4 runners in front of him on the inside right before the second water jump and then jumped the water jump landing to the left of the water jump. He literally didn't even land in the water pit and I am guessing took 4-5 strides inside the lane 1 line before the jump and was not in bounds during or directly after the jump as well.

He without a doubt should be DQ'ed and got an unfair advantage through his actions...even if he would have gotten third without doing those actions described above.

All these people saying Kemboi shouldn't have been disqualified with watching the whole race and getting the evidence is like the Michael Brown shooting. People jump to conclusions regardless of the actual evidence that is there or is later found.

I took 1 minute to watch the race and it is as clear as day to see Kemboi pass about 4 runners in front of him on the inside right before the second water jump and then jumped the water jump landing to the left of the water jump. He literally didn't even land in the water pit and I am guessing took 4-5 strides inside the lane 1 line before the jump and was not in bounds during or directly after the jump as well.

He without a doubt should be DQ'ed and got an unfair advantage through his actions...even if he would have gotten third without doing those actions described above.

I meant to say ....all these people saying Kemboi shouldn't have been disqualified WITHOUT watching the whole race and getting the evidence is like the Michael Brown shooting

Why do you idiot keep saying he didn't land in the water jump when he clearly did? And why did the iaaf say the infraction happened after the water jump if it was before? And why can't you produce any evidence to back up your claims?

I watched the replayed stream and you can see that he landed to the left of the water pit. I don't know how to post that here. The IAAF misspoke....

Have you actually watched the whole race yet since your so sure I am the idiot?

You're just flat-out lying.

I watched the full race live. I watched the replay. I even watched the pertinent part in question at 1/8 the speed at this link:

https://gfycat.com/CandidRespectfulAlaskanmalamute#?speed=0.25

Seriously, watch Kemboi in that link. He is NOT on the wrong side of the cones before the water jump.

I provided a link. Why don't you provide one?

800 On Pure Hate wrote:

Les wrote:

He actually did cut the cones, but even not counting that, since the 400m distance is measured 30 centimeters out from the curb, running inside the line means there's no way he could have run a 400m lap, and by extension 3k. Intention has nothing to do with it. Track officials are not mindreaders, they can only judge an athlete's actions. If a 200m sprinter steps on the outside line of the lane inside him on a curve, that sprinter is DQed because he/she has a) run in another runner's lane, and b) run less than 200m.

He certainly went further than 30cm from the curb more than once running in and around the pack.

He ran more than 3000 meters.

I'm sure in races not run in lanes most of the runners run more than the race distance unless they spend the entire race on the inside of lane 1, but that is not the point. The point of the rule is to ensure that runners run a MINIMUM of the race distance. Obviously, if a runner runs inside the curb there is no way of ensuring they ran the minimum distance. If a runner chooses to run their race completely in lane 8, then that is their choice to run farther than the race distance.