Usain Bolt false start

FogRunner wrote:

The women's marathon had two false starts of several athletes without one dq. Just saying.

For those who actually watched the video, the women's marathon had zero false starts. Just saying.

The first attempt was a gun misfire. It is not a false start when athletes respond to the 'click' of a dud shot.

The starter then did a test shot without bothering to inform the athletes, who weren't all back behind the start line.

The next attempted start was successful.

Geez man wrote:

Looked to me like he did it on purpose!

Well, it was very clearly a false start on the film--but he looked too upset for me to think it was intentional. And his behavior showed he realized right away that he'd false started and was frustrated with himself. His team-mate interviewed afterward seemed pretty shaken about it also even though he won. I think he would have liked to test himself against Bolt.

For me, mixed feelings. I'd have liked to see Bolt in the field, because now there will be all the "what-if" comments, and Blake will have to live with those until he can race Bolt again and find out how he'd fare. The poster who said that Bolt wanted to give Blake a chance to win--I would think it would be a backhanded favor with the message: "You can't win if I'm running"--which while it may be true would still be a way of "owning" the event and undercutting his team-mate.

I do find the commentators' Bolt worship sometimes annoying--still, I couldn't help but feel a little sorry for him having the false start. And I wonder if the one-and-done rule is a bit harsh--one false start on the field, any others on the runner making the false start seems more reasonable. But at the same time, the sprints took up way too much time under the old rules--how many false starts do tv audiences really want to watch?--so I understand the rationale for changing it to one-and-done, and Bolt obviously jumped the gun.

It will be interesting to see how he adjusts in the 200--will his start be so conservative as to make him vulnerable?

he will absolutely not be vulnerable in the 200m...he could start literally a half second behind the field and still win the race. his top end speed is far and away faster than any human, ever. and i think since blake is actually the one who false started, the idea of having a rematch in the stadium is great. it will put any doubts out that blake could ever beat bolt, because he couldnt. and it would draw alot of people and make alot of money for possible charities, ect.

I really don't think this is as "bad for the sport" as a lot of people are saying. Seriously, if you asked random 10 americans in the middle of times square, or almost anywhere, 10 of them wouldn't have any idea that the world championships are even happening (or that they even exist). They aren't even broadcast in the US. Sure, it's different in some other countries, but not a ton. The Olympics are when track and field is in the spotlight, and that's what matters. 97% of people watching the 100m final next summer in London won't have any idea that Bolt was DQed yesterday (or wouldn't if the commentators didn't beat it to death, which they inevitably will... a whole problem in itself). London is what matters for the image, Daegu only matters to people who are already track fans.

A few things:-cutting directly in from the break line in an 800 makes the distance one runs longer, so it is an odd way to gain an advantage-David Ortiz was mentioned and baseball and football and basketball are more popular in part because the games, players and rules give something to argue about. Hence talk radio sports shows. Finally we have a good rule and a DQ of not just a major player, but THE major player and maybe even non-trackies will argue. -Despite that, the amount of profanity and poorly disguised profanity makes me ashamed of some of my fellow LR posters. If you have a good point, you don't need profanity. So, as logic goes, if you use profanity, you likely don't. And prove more about yourself than anyone else. I can handle the responses to that. I feel like I am visiting skid row when I read some of the comments. Which is why I usually only visit the MB during major issues, like this one, hoping to find intelligent insights. Alas, the sifting that must be done. Lastly, I imagine the Zurich folks are already rubbing their hands about a rematch if there is a 100 on the schedule there. If not, expect one to appear somewhere before the season is over.

Categorically wrote:

Please give me an example of an 800 where the overwhelming favorite was DQed for cutting in too hard. It happens but I doubt it has ever been enforced. It's a non-rule. They can technically DQ for false starts in any event, up to the 10,000, but they never do, even when someone gets jittery and jumps.

What's the big deal? Just restart the race.

I'd rather watch a hundred restarts than one watered down "championship" like we saw this morning.

Bolt was vulnerable coming in, but his last 1 month of training must have gone really well. No injury and he looks to have dropped 10 lbs. Someone weigh him or ask please. Looks like 88 Kg down from 95 ish.

From the heats you can see Bolt is back and is 5m ahead of anyone else except an A game Tyson Gay.

Baring freak happenings we have Bolt in 19.4 flat shape and Dix in 19.5x shape i.e PB shape.

So it is Bolt to win by 2m. You can throw some money on Dix with decent odds however.

Lemaitre seems be slightly stronger mentally and physically from the rest of the rest... and the 200 might be his better event.

It will be tough for Big-L to combat the rest of the Jamaicans, but I put a small bet on him with good odds.

longjack wrote:

Bolt was vulnerable coming in, but his last 1 month of training must have gone really well. No injury and he looks to have dropped 10 lbs. Someone weigh him or ask please. Looks like 88 Kg down from 95 ish.

From the heats you can see Bolt is back and is 5m ahead of anyone else except an A game Tyson Gay.

Baring freak happenings we have Bolt in 19.4 flat shape and Dix in 19.5x shape i.e PB shape.

So it is Bolt to win by 2m. You can throw some money on Dix with decent odds however.

Lemaitre seems be slightly stronger mentally and physically from the rest of the rest... and the 200 might be his better event.

It will be tough for Big-L to combat the rest of the Jamaicans, but I put a small bet on him with good odds.

correction - Gay and Dix 5 m ahead.

You clearly haven't got the slightest clue on how drug testing at championships work.

Bolt could still redeem himself after a fashion.

Those who saw it, still speak in terms of awe about Bob Hayes’s anchor leg in the sprint relay in the 64 Olympics.

Were Jamaica to put Bolt on the anchor leg, we could still see a breathtaking performance.

Only slight difficulty is that the Jamaican team would probably give Bolt the lead, unlike what happened to Hayes who was 3rd or 4th when he exploded.

Blake would have had nothing on Bolt. That wasn't going to be even the slightest resemblance of a race. Blake is not on that level yet, nor is he on Asafa's/Gay's level. He won a race agaist a mediocre field. Remember Usains and Safa's race into a serious headwind in which thay ran 9.77 and 9.83. That's how much Blake is from that.

Blake will eventually run in the 9.7's...but it'll end at 9.7 high. I don;t understand that overhyping and bandwagoning. We'll see if Powell is fit enough to line up in Brussels...and Blake gets his *ss handed to him by the old man.

More sensationalist reporting on the front page

Twitching does not constite a false start unless suffient force is applied to the blocks to register it

Bolt start waw not triggered by this as he knew he was out straight away. If he'd seen the twitch he would have waited assuming Blake would be DQ'd. He didn't even glance at him

Agree. You are allowed to reposition your foot and flinch without creating a false start (i.e., pushing into the block pad for registry of force).

Basically Bolt got drawn offsides... in football terminology.

random_coach wrote:

Gay had surgery for god's sake.

Gee...I thought it was for his hip. People go a long way for their faith.

kiowavt wrote:

the amount of profanity and poorly disguised profanity makes me ashamed of some of my fellow LR posters.

There's no reason a poster should syntactically or gammatically bend over backwards to avoid profanity. Profanity is color; it is guts, and it is emotion.

ukathleticscoach wrote:

Twitching does not constite a false start unless suffient force is applied to the blocks to register it

Is that true? Sorry, I coach distance runners. I always thought you weren't allowed to move until the gun,and the force sensors were there to help detect movement. So, if the rules are against movement, then they DQ'd the wrong guy. Either way, they should consider instant replay for false starts in the sprints.

in the us championships they video taped entire races from 100M thru 10K and used the video to assist officials. The video was used to call and/or confirm fouls. It is very easy to video the starting line of a 100M dash and determine who actually false started. In fact, this was done at the US championships. The point is why didn't they or why couldn't they do this at the WC or olympics if it helps with accuracy.

Any one else hear Bolt scream, "You idiot!!" to himself as he was walking from the track?

PREDICTION COME TRUE