Most likely because the officials couldn't tell while it was happening how bad it was, and then I don't think that the 2nd place finisher protested.
If the 2nd place finisher had protested, the officials would have looked at the video in slow motion from several angles and I think that Gidey would have been DQ'd.
No one needs to protest in football or soccer, although they can. VAR in soccer is operated by referees in a closed room. Sometimes penalties are called and not even the team that was awarded the penalty understands what happened.
This leads to corruption "we'll pay you guys that much so you don't protest". Let's hope they change it soon.
There are plenty of head on pictures online that show that Keely had space to pass. Tried to post one but it didn’t work. The side camera angle was misleading.
Keely has 15 to 20cm from her left foot to the rail. Plenty of room to try to squeeze through. She just didn't quite have it. Anyone strong/fast enough would have tried going through a gap like that in a final sprint or elsewhere throughout any mass start tract race. Rubbing is racing.
Gidey not only moved into another lane to cut her competitor off, she looked RIGHT AT HER and then elbowed her in the chest. If you are going to DQ anyone, DQ Gidey.
That's exactly what I said.
Why wasn't she?
Both Gidey and Mu employed tactics which involved slightly obstructing their opponents for gold. Neither seem fully worthy of a DQ unless the rules are being applied very strictly. It doesn't really matter if the opponent has "room to pass" at certain points of the finishing strait - anything that knocks an athlete off balance or impedes their progress when they are giving their all at the end of a closely fought race will impede their effort and affect the finish.
Perhaps we should interpret the rules more seriously after all then - seeing finishes marred by athletes deliberately obstructing opponents spoils the race. Its certainly more serious than accidentally putting a foot off the track.
You have to be aware that in the case of Mu and Hodgkinson though that there is no way that Mu can be dq'd or even UKA object, because Mu is black and Hodgkinson is very, very white, and any objection will be interpreted by many as being a racist thing. If it had happened the other way around and Hodgkinson had somewhat moved in on Mu on the inside hampering her effort (unlikely because Mu is much taller and heavier), there would be cries that that white athlete had deliberately impeded a black athlete and wasn't being dq'd due to white privilege.
Not a great spectacle, not an entirely fair race and it might have affected the result if the other athlete in each case had been knocked off their stride even momentarily. I also think Obiri might have won against Gidey if she hadn't obstructed her somewhat. An athlete relying on those tactics demonstrates their weakness that they cannot rely on their running speed alone to win the race.
Mu can't break 1:55? She has already run 1:55.04. Think again.
I don't believe she will ever run that fast again. That is just my personal opinion.
Did she not have Covid recently
I think this was Keely's big chance to beat her.
Still not see a front on video. Mu was on the line round the bend though and moved to the middle of lane one as soon as Keely appeared. Would need to see the front video but I don't think it was a DQ but it did affect the result.
815.4m* Athing is just so far ahead of the field in fitness that she still doesn't get outran by Keely despite running an extra ~10m
Nowhere near 15m or 10m. If you run an entire bend on the line with lane 2 then you run an extra 2.89m. At no point does she run any bend this wide. She is slightly wide of the middle of lane 1 on 2nd bend (a generous 1.5m), slightly wider on the 3rd (2.5m max) and only on the 2nd half of the last bend does she drift towards outer lane (c. 2m).
That's a total of 6 m. That isn't bad for an 800m. Iv'e seen athletes run 12m - 15m wide.
Interestingly, I thought that Jakob Ingebrigtsen lost the 1500m because he ran the first lap or so, rather arrogantly in like lane 3.
Mu can't break 1:55? She has already run 1:55.04. Think again.
I don't believe she will ever run that fast again. That is just my personal opinion.
the performances in the last two years show that Mu is more consistent than Keely. Keely out pass her performances only in the finals. As you can see in this race she was sticking to line the whole race while Athing was in line 2 most of the race.
Keely did not feel cut off in any sort of way. She's been interviewed right after and now a couple days after the race, just didn't have the power to pass Mu and wasn't impeded.
A feature of the nature of the finish that is being debated here is that, quite apart from the issue of obstruction, the margin between Mu and Hodgkinson is now at a whisker. Less than a tenth of a second. That augurs well for Hodgkinson. She is closer than last year and is now only a stride away from beating Mu. The next year will be interesting.
Aren't you happy that we finally have an "American Born" World Outdoors Champion in the woman's 800 and an American Gold Medalist in the event at this year's World Championships?
We are always talking about our US distance athletes not stepping up or choking but Athing Mu continues to produce even during a rough year.
The short answer is no. If Athing had stayed further out I agree Keely might have gotten even closer, but she wasn't getting past Athing on that day, but Athing wasn't obliged to stay so far out in the lane. In any event, great races from both.
As another poster asked, what the heck happened to Ajee????
Mu's training for this year/season was truncated by many factors. She is nowhere near where she was last year, yet a "subpar" Athing still got the Gold. Yes, wait until next year when she is running in the 1:54s (low) and 48s (400).
the margin between Mu and Hodgkinson is now at a whisker. Less than a tenth of a second. That augurs well for Hodgkinson. She is closer than last year and is now only a stride away from beating Mu. The next year will be interesting.
That was only for one race. Mu had Covid twice in the last 5 months. If Mu stays healthy next year, Hodgkinson will be much more than .08 seconds behind.
