$500,000 Race Walking pay day in La Coruña

What level judging certification do you have?

The fact that you refer to it as "running" suggests to me you're making this all up anyhow.

For the record, I was an official on Long Island for a couple years, one of the few (if no the only) areas in the country that still consistently holds walks. People ALWAYS look funny in terms of legality to me doing this, no matter how many times I've seen it - but having talked to officials who've actually completed certification for the walk shows me there is more to it than one would think.

Just saying.

...I saw footage of it on CBC (possibly, i might be getting my meets confused). To me, all racewalkers appear to be running kind of funny - but if you asked me specifically what I would have to look for in order to DQ someone, I would honestly be clueless. I didn't see anything more unusual about that than I've seen in any other event (and unlike the coverage in the states, CBC tends to show highlights of the walks at major meets). And besides, I think "oh please"'s point was more or less that - you sound full of it because you are probably exagerating and you're also making a claim that is dubious given the actual iaaf rules of the event.Though to be fair, I think the rule that you could be DQed in the last 50 by the head official may not have been put into place until after the 2000 season and the olympic "debacle." (I actually looked this up once out of sheer curiosity.)To north americans, the event is a joke. But as Mr. Salvage pointed out - running is a joke to lots of people. I think this constant need to nitpick people based on their choice of event is absurd. Its all track & field. Get over it.

AC wrote:

You weren't there though were you? And what do you know about the quality of the officials at that meet? They RAN. I saw it. 4 other guys I was working with saw it. And no-one was DQed. Don't comment on something you didn't see and have no knowledge about. And sure, I know the rules, that's why I was working there an at the Grand Prix Final the week before that year.

Folks, I know there are rules and officials who are supposed to enforce the rules. We're all happy on that point.

What we disagree on is firstly the level of officials' ability. The Chilean officials had very little experience, despite the fact the this was an IAAF event, albeit only the Junior Champs. And by very little experience I mean that in some cases Seiko and Epsom (for whom I was working) had to explain how things were done. These were volunteer officials without major meet experience. Indeed, many had done very little beforehand.

With regards to the final 50m I'll stand by what I wrote. They RAN. Not lifted slightly. RAN. What was needed was disqualification of the first 3 athletes. That's a big call to make. And no-one made it, I think mainly due to the inexperience of those there. As I'm still in contact with one of the officials from the meet, I can email her to confirm their lack of experience, which in my view bears out what I am saying.

People who denigrate any persons chosen activity should have a word with themselves. Especially those 'If we didn't invent it it's shit' American tossers! Pack of narrow minded fools! I'm sure all those drug addict baseball players deserve the tens of millions they get paid...yeah right!

You lot are totally clueless!

Yes, judging the sport of race walking is quite a bit more complicated than it might seem on the surface. The human eye is contradicted time and time again using instant replay in numerous sports. But, believe me, dedicated officials do their very best to keep race walking well-policed. Do the athletes ever cheat on purpose? Sure, but it is rare and extremely risky. It is their superb physical condition and technical skill that causes walkers to "violate" the rules at times. After all, it's competition. Just men and women trying to do their utmost to win--anything wrong with that? Give race walkers an even break. They work awfully hard to attain their fitness and competitive edge. Hell of a sport, actually. Give it a try!!