Ok, if there was a DQ in the men's 800, the has to be one in the women's 1500 - Bye Bye Mary Cain?

Deadman Running wrote:

I never said her knee,I said her leg. One in the knee area and two in the shin. Each time was Uceny's left foot to Mcgee's left leg. I'd be willing to bet that McGee's left leg has spike marks on it. And you are correct, a runner from behind is entitled to their space - but if they keep running into the runner in front them of them they are encroaching on the lead runners space. You can't just keep running up on someone. Either back half a step or go around. And that was exactly the problem here - Corey's left foot forward was at the same time as Morgan's left foot back kick. And, since Morgan was the front runner, Corey impeded on her space.

I agree and would add that McGee is in a position that could easily cause contact with the two runners in front, Uceny and Cain. You simply cannot wedge yourself between two runners directly in front of you. That should be the rule.

A big part of the appeal of watching track and field is watching great athletes achieve great things. Far too often races are tarnished by accidents because there is very weak rules, guidance, and sanctions given to the athletes.

It's time for the governing bodies in T&F to state publicly how they choose to handle this issue. Is it a non-contact sport where the competitors respect each other and their competitive space, or not?

If I am McGee, I am extra paranoid about contact, because this is the woman that falls hard and falls often, and she could well take me out completely. I find it hard to believe that Corey had more than minimal contact.

The only way for governing bodies to handle this issue would be to put training wheels on Morgan Uceny.

It seems to me like her running is erratic and her pace is erratic - as in it looks like she was wavering around and also that she slowed down when there was a runner right behind her. The 1500 is aggressive, you get pushed around, it's part of it, sorry. The trick is not to run to close to people, not to go into gaps that aren't there (not saying she did but this but other people do) and not to make any sudden decelerations.

Having said that, it may be the other runner behind who was at fault, but in my view it's impossible to 100% tell from the videos because of the angle.

Latti31 wrote:

If a distance runner falls down 3 times in big time races it's probably due to improper technique. She has to fix her back kick, period. We can't blame other runners every time she falls down

I agree. Morgan has to be responsible for Morgan. Fell me once shame on you, fell me twice shame on me. Fell me three times.. . Come on.

If she is that prone to taking spills then she needs to do all to protect this. And if that means running on the far outside, or in the back then so be it.

Because it doesn't matter how well she is placed if she is going to be taken down.

This is the first thing she must fix.

Because if she is unable to run in a pack then she either needs to get a lot better than everyone, run off the back or in lane 4.

I feel bad for her falling again but I didn't see anything that would indicate anyone else is at fault. Didn't she also fall in a meet in Europe, which would make this 4 falls?

Indoor? wrote:

There is no way she will run a different distance every, she's stubborn, she hardly ran XC in HS and picked a college she didn't have to run it at and still able to run track. My take is the falls are karma for being stupid and a little lazy. Most other 1500 runners do some other races and try to get as fast of 5k's as they can as they know strength helps. Morgan not so much. Never liked her much.

Actually, I agree with this. Morgan should do more running over rough terrain, rather than smooth surfaces.

The latest was an extremely GENTLE race by Euro standards. When Morgan falls, she FALLS....she doesn't stagger, then fall - she falls/face plants completely.

Does Morgan have an inner-ear inbalance? Has this been checked out?

She tripped herself.

http://www.usatf.tv/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=45365&do=videos&video_id=120718

Step through the video at 6:17. At 6:18 MU is clearly separated from Mcgee for the entire stride length before the fall. No contact at all. At 6:19 it looks like MU's left leg clips her own right as "inverted pendulum" says. As her left foot passes her right knee you can see her body jolt, that left leg does not complete it's full forward motion, and she falls. In the other angle, at 6:29 in the video, Mackey is blocking the view of the space between MU and Cain, but there is clearly plenty of room, someone would have to be really flailing wildly for there to be contact from the side.

I feel McGee was running a little too close to Cain and MU from behind, but from the video I really don't think there was physical contact that brought MU down. I feel bad for Morgan and truly hope she can put this behind her.

It appears to me that at 2:19.5 into the race [4:13 on the video, at least the way it's displaying on my computer], Cory McGee's extended left foot clips Uceny's trailing left foot. McGee barely breaks stride but her left foot is about to land so the contact didn't create much of a problem for her. Ucency's left foot is just starting to kick back, so even a modest amount of contact was able to knock her way off balance.

It doesn't appear to me that Cain made any contact with Uceny, and it also doesn't appear to me that Uceny tripped herself.

p.s. I thought for sure we'd have some GG haters blaming the fall on "Calamity Gabe".

I was at the track and heard the quotes from Cain & Uceny. Quote from Cain: "I did not make contact with Uceny". Quote from Uceny: "I did not make contact with Cain, the contact came from behind". Now shut up already.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_detailpage&v=lWzqfiWRE9Q#t=376

london fall. this should be linked about 5-10 seconds before she goes down. it's clear her head is pointing off to the right and she falls under identical circumstances; left foot meets right calf, then torso meets the track.

If I was running behind you, and I kicked your left foot towards the right side of your body, you'd hit the track just as hard.

High Wire wrote:

If I am McGee, I am extra paranoid about contact.

After reviewing the race video, McGee certainly wasn't concerned about contact. She had herself wedged into the stride overlap zone behind and between Cain and Uceny for at least 150m before Uceny fell. To me, this is careless, disrespectful, and unsportsmanlike tactical running, particularly at this level.

IMO, this is exactly the type of racing tactics that the governing bodies of T&F need to address. Even if there ended up being no incident in this race, McGee needs to be warned about this hazardous tactic. Wedging yourself between and behind two other runners is hazardous and should not be tolerated. The sport simply needs to define clearly where it stands on these kinds of issues. T&F needs policies and guidelines for the athletes about acceptable and unacceptable racing tactics.

watched the video....it appears to me..she tripped herself, until I see more proof, that's what I helieve happen, Morgan tripped over her own feet!

poor mcgee is being blame for this....but this video shows Morgan has issues with falling down on her own

sdfasdfds wrote:

If I was running behind you, and I kicked your left foot towards the right side of your body, you'd hit the track just as hard.

I understand that logic, and yet I've been clipped plenty of times and have never fallen in a T&F race because of that. She is falling under identical circumstances each time. Just look at the direction she always falls; that is where her head is pointed to begin with.

What about wedging yourself between runners ahead and staying there? Should this be considered acceptable racing tactics?

wejo wrote:

http://stream.nbcsports.com/nbc/?pid=10038

the video is here Go to 4:28:50

I can't tell exactly what happens. Either Morgan trips herself, Cain trips her from the side, or McGee from behind. Those are the options.

It's not McGee from the side shot you can see they do not come close to touching, McGee is too far behind and their is a clear gap of 1 foot between their feet at the closest point. So it's Morgan's fault for tripping herself or moving too close to the inside runner.

Maybe it has been said already but why no dq on Andrews? Watching the video he ran way inside the track to avoid Jock. Was his 1:57 a crap race him not being able to refocus after the fall or sandbagging assuming there would be a dq?