A Must Read: Video Proof That Yohan Blake - Not Usain Bolt - False Started

He sound have run under protest then, his own damn fault he doesn't have Gold around his neck right now.

I'm sold by the video. A flinch is definitely grounds for a DQ, I've seen it happen even at the high school level. I teach my high school sprinters that flinching is not allowed. The starters didn't catch it and it was so subtle that Bolt didn't realize that's what made him jump. It was an unfortunate oversight. For those of you saying it was Bolts fault, do you teach your sprinters that they can flinch, or twitch, or grunt, or pass gas in the set position? Can't wait for the men's 200!

lewickerman wrote:

Um....No.

STOP trying to make Bolt out to be done wrong here. People are searching for a reason. Quit blaming other people. If Bolt had gone because of a twitch, he would have IMMEDIATELY said something; not take his shirt off, yell and walk off the track. THERE is your proof he didn't see/react to it.

I love Bolt but he messed up. Not the guy next to him, not the IAAF, not the cameraman. Him. Bolt did it.

Again...Stop blaming others. It was all Bolt.

d--

Right, but there are still a bunch of people who actually do look down the track at the start!

Like you, I watch my feet--not only at the start, but to at least 25m!

Hey d, I was really impressed by Lemaitre--that guy has the finish of Blake, which is really incredible--he was making up ground on Dix et al, maybe even on Blake. He looked excellent, although he didn't medal.

Please everyone vote for the Rules Changes so we can make sure Mr. Bolt wins all his races from now on.

lewickerman wrote:

Um....No.

STOP trying to make Bolt out to be done wrong here. People are searching for a reason. Quit blaming other people. If Bolt had gone because of a twitch, he would have IMMEDIATELY said something; not take his shirt off, yell and walk off the track. THERE is your proof he didn't see/react to it.

I love Bolt but he messed up. Not the guy next to him, not the IAAF, not the cameraman. Him. Bolt did it.

Again...Stop blaming others. It was all Bolt.

Damn mispost. Its amazing how many people are commenting without having read the explanation linked to from the front page. The argument is that Bolt reacted to it without being fully aware of it, he catches movement in his peripheral vision and starts unaware of what set him off. (Almost) all the sprinters here are saying how tightly wound you are on the blocks, ready to move at any signal.

That being said, while I think Bolt was not responsible for his false start, I'm not sure you can reasonable expect an official to notice a calf twitch which probably didn't apply any pressure to the blocks.

"Can't wait for the men's 200!"

No kidding!

Bolt looked really, really good. What's really important is that he's got his start right--if it's not right, everything goes to hell pretty quickly thereafter.

But he's got it, he's got the spring back, he looks to me like he's lost weight, and that he actually cares about winning in grand fashion.

I don't doubt that he will win if he finishes the race, but it will be interesting to see what the time will be.

I'm guessing 19.58, he looks that good to me.

There was a fairly well known case, involving Muna Lee and Torri Edwards as I recall, 1 or 2 world championships ago. In that case a called FS was indeed caused by a flinch, but only the FS was called.

Something Rojo might think about.

While we're at it, might I should invite Mike Young to comment about Rojo's distance training, as that would make about as much sense as what you see here.

trolldozer wrote:

I am now 100% convinced "sprint geezer" is a distance runner trolling. One of the very first things a good sprint coach teaches is to focus down the track. . . . Rookie sprinters often want to look at the starter. As a coach, you stop this immediately and focus them maybe 20 metres down the track.

I'm the first to say that different things work for different people. However, I had some success in coaching sprinters and I generally coached them to keep their heads in line with their trunks--meaning that, in the set position, the sprinter is looking pretty much down.

It seems that a lot of other coaches and athletes agree with this. One example among dozens (hundreds?) available on YouTube:

(check the set positions at 0:22).

I'll grant that you don't want the athletes watching the starter, but raising the head to look 20m down the track, in the set position, would certainly seem to disrupt many athletes' alignment. But who knows, maybe you're on to something and maybe looking out 20m results in the best starts, at least for some.

What you can't say, though, is that SG is "outed" as a sprint fake because he thinks you can see (somewhat) behind you--no, not focusing, but peripherally--in the set position. With the set position that most top sprinters assume, you can.

Sprint Geezer wrote:

Hey d, I was really impressed by Lemaitre--that guy has the finish of Blake, which is really incredible--he was making up ground on Dix et al, maybe even on Blake. He looked excellent, although he didn't medal.

How happy must that guy (and his coach) be to be 4th in the WC at his age? Not long ago most were saying he wouldn't even make the finals. Your description of his finish is exactly what I saw, but what you didn't say...because his start totally sucked.

Plenty to build on next year for London.

runner dunker wrote:

Rojo, most of the time you guys run this website very well, but sometimes you post things like this that make you look immature and juvenile.

End of story. Please stop trying to take away from Blake's accomplishment today like everyone else in the world seems to be doing.

Listen, dude. This is the goddamn superbowl of track. If the superbowl was decided on a goal-line stance and the officals called it wrong -- WHAT THE FYCK DO YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN?

These guys are the only ones with the horsepower and the passion to bring this to attention.

It's fycking commendable that they don't hide behind their website and keep shyt to themselves.

It's crystal clear that the refs called it wrong. It happens all the time in sport. Please don't act like we're above ball-sports and monday morning quaterbacking.

This is not the NFL here. They aren't going to change/make up rules as they go along just to simply cater to the money-makers that people think are above everyone else they're competing against.

You just outed yourself as a distance geek who knows nothing about sprinting. "look 20 meters down the track" Thanks I got a good laugh when I read that. Let me guess when you tried this your drive phase probably lasted all of 3 steps. Stick with running long slow laps and leave the events that require twitch muscles to those of us that have them.

trolldozer wrote:

I am now 100% convinced "sprint geezer" is a distance runner trolling. One of the very first things a good sprint coach teaches is to focus down the track. Any moderately accomplished/trained sprinter would know this. Sprint geezer is the Mr. Chest of this generation. Bolt did not see out of his peripheral AND behind him. Rookie sprinters often want to look at the starter. As a coach, you stop this immediately and focus them maybe 20 metres down the track. This can vary. Well done sprint geezer, you've got a lot of people fooled. i had my suspicions but needed the smoking gun, This is it.

Rojo, I did bother to watch both videos and my view remains the same. Bolt had the best view of us all and didn't see it that way. Saying that it was in his subconscious is digging pretty deep.

I hope Bolt handles this properly and does not use this as an excuse. Too many people today want to point the finger at someone else when things go wrong. Sometimes you just have to man up, realize you are human, own up to your mistakes, learn from them, and move on. Bolt has not said much after this as far as I know, but I would expect him not to make the same mistake in the 200.

c'mon wrote:

Too many people today want to point the finger at someone else when things go wrong.

Plus, they listen to their music too loud and keep getting on my lawn.

Wow, that was a massive flinch. But regardless, what we are seeing is in slow-mo.

There is no way on Heaven or Earth that Bolt would have reacted that quickly or even seen a flinch happen.

You must have forgotten that the video is not showing actual speed.

Ato Bolden comments on UniversalSports just seconds BEFORE the start of the 100m:

"And the fact that Bolt is right next to Yohan Blake who he trains with everyday in Kingston with the racers track club, I think is an advantage for Bolt because Blake is such a good starter that Bolt will be able to feel him from the gun and get a sense of just where he is in this final."

And then just seconds later Blake twitched and Bolt jumped.

As Bolden correctly observed before the false start, the only person Bolt was focused on in that final was Blake.

not a sprinter wrote:

Ato Bolden comments on UniversalSports just seconds BEFORE the start of the 100m:

"And the fact that Bolt is right next to Yohan Blake who he trains with everyday in Kingston with the racers track club, I think is an advantage for Bolt because Blake is such a good starter that Bolt will be able to feel him from the gun and get a sense of just where he is in this final."

And then just seconds later Blake twitched and Bolt jumped.

As Bolden correctly observed before the false start, the only person Bolt was focused on in that final was Blake.

The plot thickens . . .

Neu wrote:

This is a fun thread and the video is a great source for after-the-fact debate, but I've gotta agree with the folks who say that there is NO WAY any official could've seen the "flinch".

Exactly. If you were there "live" watching it, I would imagine it would be difficult to see EVERY move or angle... kind of like watchIng a MLB/NFL game in person w/o the instant replay...eh?

Btw, I had to see the video a couple times to finally catch "THE FLINCH", otherwise I would have not seen it. Good find....Rojo!