Breaking: Say it ain't so. Colleen Quigley DQd in women's steeple.

Does any sport governing body have the backs of its athletes LESS than USATF??

Come on! File a protest even if it is unlikely to overturn the appeal. Give some confidence to the athletes that you are, on occasion, there for them.

Rienhamm wrote:

Imagine the handful of random Americans that stumble upon this broadcast of track and they see some cute American girl finish up front in the steeple and then they watch her get interviewed and maybe they catch some actual interest in what's happening. BUT THEN they hear the DQ drama and watch the foot-on-line replays and explanations. And even these uninformed people are gonna say "oh give me a break she's coming off a big crowded jump and lost her balance". Their next thought will be "this sport is a frickin joke!"

Am I right? These ticky tack DQs after the fact when it's clear the infraction really doesn't matter really do not help our sport be interesting to a casual viewer.

All sports have this problem. Women's steeple is no more or less popular today as a result.

That said, I don't think she should be DQ.

Larry Dickman wrote:

Does any sport governing body have the backs of its athletes LESS than USATF??

Come on! File a protest even if it is unlikely to overturn the appeal. Give some confidence to the athletes that you are, on occasion, there for them.

What would they protest? It is clear from the replay that she stepped on the line on the curve.

Surprise! wrote:

That said, I don't think she should be DQ.

Why?

Do you think she didn't break the rule?

Do you think she should be exempt from the consequences?

It's the equivalent of "exceeding track limits" in F1. Their rules reads like this:

"Drivers must make every reasonable effort to use the track at all times and may not deliberately leave the track without a justifiable reason.

Drivers will be judged to have left the track if no part of the car remains in contact with it and, for the avoidance of doubt, any white lines defining the track edges are considered to be part of the track but the kerbs are not.

Should a car leave the track the driver may re-join, however, this may only be done when it is safe to do so and without gaining any lasting advantage. At the absolute discretion of the race director a driver may be given the opportunity to give back the whole of any advantage he gained by leaving the track."

Discretion is obviously what is missing here. F1 regularly does a great job applying the sporting regulations while maintaining good communications between the race director, drivers, and teams.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Why?

Do you think she didn't break the rule?

Do you think she should be exempt from the consequences?

Mr Obvious: Did you suffer a harsh breakup with CQ, or did she just never respond to your texts in the first place?

Look, it's REALLY simple: the rule states an athlete "...shall not step or run on or inside the kerb or line marking the applicable border..." on "...any curved

part of the diversion from the track for the steeplechase water

jump..."

Clearly, she did that. If the straight portion was her only infraction, then the "...with no material advantage thereby being gained..." could be argued.

I don't think she gained anything by stepping on the straight line. However, that's not what she was DQd for.

Sucks, but DQ is the right call.

And the BroJos need to make it clear that the straight line step is not the DQ offense. It seems they are drumming up a story by posting the gif of the straight line step only. Grab a gif of the curve steps and put it on your Twitter feed, please.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

What would they protest? It is clear from the replay that she stepped on the line on the curve.

File a protest to GET A RAIL ON THE WATER PIT. Seriously, it's crazy that these problems at major championships keep coming up regarding stepping on or over the line in that area.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

yepppppppp wrote:

Everyone keeps talking about multiple steps on the line and it being on the curve... I see one step on the line (possibly partially over) and it's on the straight line after the water jump. Is that the part we're talking about or am I literally not seeing the infraction?

Yes, there were multiple steps on the line. Look here:

https://twitter.com/usatf/status/895355759223025668

You have to open it and look through the comments. Clearly a step on the line.

Here is the pic; foot on the line along the kerb

I agree they should have a rail. A protest is not going to make that happen.

SEDave wrote:

File a protest to GET A RAIL ON THE WATER PIT. Seriously, it's crazy that these problems at major championships keep coming up regarding stepping on or over the line in that area.

simple logic evades RWNJs wrote:

How is this considered an advantage on a straight, which in this waterjump configuration it is?

Obviously stepping inside on the bend (like Farah) should be a DQ unless there is a push (like Farah).

But with a straight line/rail to the left, if there is no advantage gained (e.g. passing inside), this shouldn't be a DQ.

If everyone is congested staying in the lines and someone goes out of the line because there's more room that's an advantage. She doesn't get to play by a different set of rules than everyone else.

Colleen's Ex? wrote:

Mr Obvious: Did you suffer a harsh breakup with CQ, or did she just never respond to your texts in the first place?

I have nothing at all against Colleen Quigley. I was rooting for her to advance.

I think she broke the rules and was DQ'ed for the infraction.

I fail to see a good argument for why she shouldn't be DQ'ed.

The picture shows the Kenyan cutting down to the line without an open path, thereby cutting off Quigley and forcing her on the line.

The USATF should have appealed this.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Colleen's Ex? wrote:

Mr Obvious: Did you suffer a harsh breakup with CQ, or did she just never respond to your texts in the first place?

I have nothing at all against Colleen Quigley. I was rooting for her to advance.

I think she broke the rules and was DQ'ed for the infraction.

I fail to see a good argument for why she shouldn't be DQ'ed.

Because a DQ is a harsh response to such a minor advantage gained. I'm not even sure if she did gain an advantage, but I do agree theoretically exceeding the line could be advantageous thus should be penalised. Disqualifying an athlete from a 9 minute race for stepping inside the line is overly harsh. Any race run not entirely in lanes should have a time penalty added (which we can agree upon later) and not a DQ.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Larry Dickman wrote:

Does any sport governing body have the backs of its athletes LESS than USATF??

Come on! File a protest even if it is unlikely to overturn the appeal. Give some confidence to the athletes that you are, on occasion, there for them.

What would they protest? It is clear from the replay that she stepped on the line on the curve.

I live in a world where we defend our own. Although, I would make an exception for you.

Regardless, I could find some mitigating circumstance. She was bumped and impeded by another runner, and it took her several steps to recover.

But this is far from the first time that USATF has not supported its runners or dropped the ball like when they failed to enter Rowbury in the 1500 at Moscow's World Championships.

I wanna know how Farrah could step literally over the railing and it's fine but Quigley steps on a line and gets DQ'd

Based on the precedent set by not DQing Evan Jager last night, Colleen Quigley's DQ could be overturned in the steeple.

Tinfoil hat incoming. Does anyone else feel that IAAF let Jager and the USATF "slide" on the protest because it was for a medal, while with Quigley they hit her with the DQ to "make up" for the Jager protest? Even stranger how USATF didn't bother fighting for her. They know they needed to take the hit. I guess the French and Kenyan federations at least step up to the plate to swing when it comes to their athletes....

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Jak Handles wrote:

I wanna know how Farrah could step literally over the railing and it's fine but Quigley steps on a line and gets DQ'd

Glad you could be with us for your first ever track meet.

Farah (one r, I'm sure you'll get it next time) got shoved out. Quigley intentionally ran there. There's no dispute. She consciously chose where to run and broke a 100% objective rule. She gone.