USATF announced Dead Heat Solution For Allyson Felix & All Dead Heats

Kidding aside. Let’s help out the USATF and USOC. Their latest plan still has flaws. The key is to go into the race knowing exactly what you have to do. The final race should be decisive.

Coin flip? You’ve got to be kidding! Heads, I go to London and make fame and big money. Tails, I should have played the lottery instead.

Re-race? Only good for drama – bad for athletes.

There should be a pre-existing tie-breaker. i.e. something prior to the race will break the tie.

Just brainstorming here – but here are my two options.

Option #1. Tie is broken by best overall average of times in the Olympic Trials races.

Option #2. Tie is broken by seasonal best time prior to entering the trials.

In both cases the athlete who has the inferior mark before entering the final race knows that she (he) must be in the top three outright. The athlete has fair warning that a tie for third may not be good enough.

I prefer option #2. Option #1 puts a priority on running fast in preliminary races. That goes against good judgment, which says only run fast enough to qualify.

Look at some of the other rules in track and field on how ties are broken...well field events go into detail more. I believe the best way is to follow the horizontal jumps for distance method. You just go to their next best performance. Example, you would go to their heat times. Tarmoh ran 11.16 vice Felix 11.19, thus Tarmoh is third. If they would have the same times in the heats( I guess they go down to 1000ths), then go to the time they used to qualify for the trials.In this case, Felix used a time of 10.92 and Tarmoh has a time of 11.13, thus Felix would be third. I just believe that the coin flip is the most ridiculous thing I've heard of in a long time. I stated all day that I would rather see rock, paper, scissors(best of 3), as it would be more dramatic and at least the athletes are performing. Who is in charge of the coin flip? Another run-off...really. Why..wasn't there already the final? Why make them run again for something that can have an outcome determined in other ways. Now we have to wait for what...Felix to run the 200..is she in the 400 also? I think this has to be taken its toll on both athletes and I feel for them. Let's do something intelligent...no coinflip..no runoff...lets look at their last performance before the final.

runasfastasucanforaslongasucan wrote:

You just go to their next best performance.

+1

But the details still need to be spelled out. Unlike a throw, longest of three tries, the track might be prelim, semi, final. Should a faster prelim time prevail over a semi time? How about: final is a tie obviously; 1st tiebreak compare the semi result; 2nd tiebreak compare the prelim result; 3rd tiebreak compare the qualifying result (both runners have to have the A standard, right?); final tiebreak NOW toss a coin.

To the argument that heats should be run at the slowest pace that will qualify, well okay, but the runner that "overdid it" in the heats theoretically had less in the tank for the final, and still managed a tie. Moral victor at least, why not award them the tiebreak? I imagine there could still be gripes about being in the "slow heat". Actually any system has flaws and could be said to "favor" one runner over another. The clear benefit of "next best" is that all the athletes know just where they stand before the final gun.

I understand why you all think there should be different solutions, but the fact of the matter is that rojo was right for once. Save your breath.

Please link to the thread where rojo was right.

All of this is a moot point. Felix will make the team in the 200m easily unless she pulls a hamstring or cramps up. At that point she let her training mate run the 100. Felix will run the 4x1, 4x4 and 200 in London and has a great chance of getting 3 Gold Medals.

Alan Bennet wrote:

Please link to the thread where rojo was right.

You can argue that the semi/prelim marks should be used going forward, but they can't be used in this case be cause they didn't know it at the time of the races. You would in theory see less downshifting in the last 10m of the heats/semis if the competitors knew that their performances could be used as tiebreakers down the line.

Performance list seems to make the most sense. Fastest time in the qualifying window goes. If there is still a tie, then go to each athletes second fast time. And so on.

A runoff would be fun, but not realistic if the rule is to work for all distances. I am guessing a sprinter would argue that an extra race would be too taxing as well.

Is there a chance USATF will use performance list in the future? Since the rule was not in place before the race going with the performance list now would look like they prefer Felix over Tarmoh?

Joke all you want, wise guys, but it's hard trying to decide what to do when they finish in a dead teat.

It's hard to decide what to do in a fire, that's why you rehearse it ahead of time.

* wrote:

http://www.nfl.com/standings/tiebreakingprocedures

"If ties exist in any grouping except (2) above, such ties shall be broken by strength-of-schedule. If any ties cannot be broken by strength-of-schedule, the divisional or conference tie-breakers, if applicable, shall be applied. Any ties that still exist shall be broken by a coin flip."

A coin toss is the final tie-breaker to decide on NFL teams making the playoffs.

So it is not an amateur thing.

Though, I think it has never happned.

It happens in soccer, too.

The American women won their group after a tie after a coin toss.

http://www.nytimes.com/2000/06/28/sports/soccer-coin-flip-goes-in-us-team-s-favor.html

1) The NFL has so many provisions before the coin toss that it is almost impossble for one to occur (I don't think one ever has).

2) Even the NFL doesn't need a 3 paragraph essay to outline how a coin toss works.

Can someone get an interview with the women's chair on this?

Ask why she didn't push for a rule?

Is Sue Humphrey in Eugene?

Or like US Indoors, did skip the meet and probelms with the hurdles there?

Alan Bennet wrote:

It's hard to decide what to do in a fire, that's why you rehearse it ahead of time.

It's a joke, Alan. Read my post again.

So I noticed the first time. Not my style.

Once again - There will be NO run off, no coin toss. This will be a backroom deal between their agents/managers. $$ will decide this outcome & NOTHING ELSE!

Again, prelims aren't as decisive as a seasonal PR. Go with seasonal PR as the tie breaker.