Gutted for Leah Falland

Letter earner wrote:

juvie wrote:

Former hurdler here.

I too watched the video frame by frame. Not conclusive either way, but I do believe her toe hit the barrier. However I don’t think it caused the fall. She was tripping all over herself on the way down and her toe just barely hit the barrier as a result. A couple of observations:

1. Starting from the 6 minute mark, she went over three successive hurdles with her left leg leading and her right leg as the trailing leg. If she is right handed, it would make sense that that would be her more natural hurdling sequence. At least it was that way for me. You train yourself to hurdle with the other leg leading, and can become proficient that way too, but the motion is less natural. On the fourth hurdle, she went over with her right leg leading and her trailing. That is when she went down. (Coincidentally on the water jumps she seems more comfortable taking off with her left leg, planting her right foot over the barrier, and then launching herself over the water with her right leg. That too would seem to be more natural for a right hander)

2. She took off way too close to the barrier on the one that caused her fall. She had to go almost straight up and had a lot of vertical clearance on the barrier but lost forward momentum in the process. As she went down, it seemed like her right (lead leg) began to plant and push forward to regain momentum but because she had gone up higher than normal and her planting motion was a split second too early causing a loss of balance mid-air. Her loss of forward momentum also meant that her toe did not have time to pass the barrier and instead came down on it (however slightly). If her toe had not hit the barrier she might have been able to regain her balance, but it did and she didn’t.

Too bad for her. I’ve been a fan since her days at MSU. hopefully she’ll come back stronger.

This post is correct. I'm surprised people are saying otherwise (wait no I'm not most people in this thread are morons).

She got more vertical clearance than she was expecting, and brought her landing foot into a running motion before actually making contact with the ground.

She ran an incredible race. It's gut wrenching because it just opens up so many "what-ifs".

juvie wrote:

Curiosity wrote:

She does state in here interview that her toe clipped the barrier.

But watching this frame by frame, and being a steepler myself, the way she fell, she didn't hit the barrier at all. Somehow she lost her balance when her lead leg hit the ground and that is what caused her to fall. Her upper body was turned and that might have contributed to it.

If either of her toes hit the barrier (even just a slight clip of it) you would see movement in her leg when it does and you would see the momentum of that leg be disrupted. There is none of that in either leg.

I feel horrible for her, because she was running great and putting it out there to make her dream come true of being an Olympian. Whether she would have held on to 3rd or not, she was putting herself into position to get on the team.

Former hurdler here.

I too watched the video frame by frame. Not conclusive either way, but I do believe her toe hit the barrier. However I don’t think it caused the fall. She was tripping all over herself on the way down and her toe just barely hit the barrier as a result. A couple of observations:

1. Starting from the 6 minute mark, she went over three successive hurdles with her left leg leading and her right leg as the trailing leg. If she is right handed, it would make sense that that would be her more natural hurdling sequence. At least it was that way for me. You train yourself to hurdle with the other leg leading, and can become proficient that way too, but the motion is less natural. On the fourth hurdle, she went over with her right leg leading and her trailing. That is when she went down. (Coincidentally on the water jumps she seems more comfortable taking off with her left leg, planting her right foot over the barrier, and then launching herself over the water with her right leg. That too would seem to be more natural for a right hander)

2. She took off way too close to the barrier on the one that caused her fall. She had to go almost straight up and had a lot of vertical clearance on the barrier but lost forward momentum in the process. As she went down, it seemed like her right (lead leg) began to plant and push forward to regain momentum but because she had gone up higher than normal and her planting motion was a split second too early causing a loss of balance mid-air. Her loss of forward momentum also meant that her toe did not have time to pass the barrier and instead came down on it (however slightly). If her toe had not hit the barrier she might have been able to regain her balance, but it did and she didn’t.

Too bad for her. I’ve been a fan since her days at MSU. hopefully she’ll come back stronger.

prosper in the way wrote:

Flagpole wrote:

No, she's not necessarily lying. She imagined something that did not happen. Baseball players think all the time that they didn't watch strike three go by when video evidence shows they did. Same here. We have video evidence. She may have felt unsure of her jump and thought she might hit the barrier, and so she imagined that she did. The brain is powerful. She can think what she wants, but the proof is there on video. She did NOT hit that barrier.

Dude, chill out and stop taking it personally. You can feel a slight grazing in your toe, and you'd have to be a complete moran to not know if you made contact with a 200 lb. barrier. It's like saying you watched a NASCAR race and definitely know that the car didn't hit any bugs. You're putting more stock than is warranted for the resolution and camera angle.

So there are three options: (a) she's lying, (b) she's stupid, or (c) she hit the barrier. I'll vote (c), but (a) is possible.

juvie wrote:

Curiosity wrote:

She does state in here interview that her toe clipped the barrier.

But watching this frame by frame, and being a steepler myself, the way she fell, she didn't hit the barrier at all. Somehow she lost her balance when her lead leg hit the ground and that is what caused her to fall. Her upper body was turned and that might have contributed to it.

If either of her toes hit the barrier (even just a slight clip of it) you would see movement in her leg when it does and you would see the momentum of that leg be disrupted. There is none of that in either leg.

I feel horrible for her, because she was running great and putting it out there to make her dream come true of being an Olympian. Whether she would have held on to 3rd or not, she was putting herself into position to get on the team.

Former hurdler here.

I too watched the video frame by frame. Not conclusive either way, but I do believe her toe hit the barrier. However I don’t think it caused the fall. She was tripping all over herself on the way down and her toe just barely hit the barrier as a result. A couple of observations:

1. Starting from the 6 minute mark, she went over three successive hurdles with her left leg leading and her right leg as the trailing leg. If she is right handed, it would make sense that that would be her more natural hurdling sequence. At least it was that way for me. You train yourself to hurdle with the other leg leading, and can become proficient that way too, but the motion is less natural. On the fourth hurdle, she went over with her right leg leading and her trailing. That is when she went down. (Coincidentally on the water jumps she seems more comfortable taking off with her left leg, planting her right foot over the barrier, and then launching herself over the water with her right leg. That too would seem to be more natural for a right hander)

2. She took off way too close to the barrier on the one that caused her fall. She had to go almost straight up and had a lot of vertical clearance on the barrier but lost forward momentum in the process. As she went down, it seemed like her right (lead leg) began to plant and push forward to regain momentum but because she had gone up higher than normal and her planting motion was a split second too early causing a loss of balance mid-air. Her loss of forward momentum also meant that her toe did not have time to pass the barrier and instead came down on it (however slightly). If her toe had not hit the barrier she might have been able to regain her balance, but it did and she didn’t.

Too bad for her. I’ve been a fan since her days at MSU. hopefully she’ll come back stronger.

Flagpole wrote:

prosper in the way wrote:

Dude, chill out and stop taking it personally. You can feel a slight grazing in your toe, and you'd have to be a complete moran to not know if you made contact with a 200 lb. barrier. It's like saying you watched a NASCAR race and definitely know that the car didn't hit any bugs. You're putting more stock than is warranted for the resolution and camera angle.

So there are three options: (a) she's lying, (b) she's stupid, or (c) she hit the barrier. I'll vote (c), but (a) is possible.

NOPE! IF she's not lying (and I don't think she is lying), she imagined she hit the barrier. The brain is a powerful thing. She easily could have thought she was going to hit the barrier upon takeoff, and so she imagined she did. It's even more powerful of a thought once she fell, but she didn't hit that barrier. Perhaps it makes her feel better if she hit the barrier and went down rather than because she went down due to a poor landing. And, I'm not taking it personally...whatever the hell that stupid comment is supposed to mean. She didn't hit the barrier.