Ridiculous DQ? I just got DQd after running 4:08 at mile sectional

Since this was a qualifying meet, and the OP was 100m ahead of the last qualifier, a better example would be:

You are Winning 4-0 in a tournament style game and you commit a questionable hand ball goal in the 90th minute that usually doesn’t even get called. Should you have to forfeit the game and be eliminated from the tournament?

Obviously no, no other sport has ridiculous elimination rules like this DQ call that was made.

Ahhh yes, NJ high school T&F. I once ran an 800m where I was neck and neck with some guy from another team on the homestretch. His teammate ran with us on the infield shouting encouragement. Come the end of the race officials threatened to DQ me for getting paced. The old bastards are too lazy to even check jersey colors.

Correct. At most, the official could have waived his yellow flag and discussed it with the coach and athlete. This is one of those where the official maturely explains to the runner that his actions were questionable but not quite enough to be DQed over. The official tells the runner and coach that an official at the state meet may see it differently. He then wishes the runner good luck. That is how officials help rather than hinder the sport.

I watched it frame by frame - he came out of the corner in lane 1. He only moved into lane 2 as he was being passed ( and into the puddles). He continued to drift out and even entered lane 3. It seems pretty clear he was trying to block the pass. Only way a person can think that was unintentional is if they've never run a track race in their life and are talking out of their azz.

Should he have been DQ'd? Meh, I don't care, but only because only he lost. That didn't make what he did right. The fact that he complains about it after behaving the way he did, tells me that kid has an attitude problem which is the bigger issue. Races cheap and then complains when called on it? Not good.

Good call rojo. AND... Now that it's a DQ, the historical reference won't clearly indicate what a hard fought win it was for the other guy. They just robbed him of a nail-biter of a win.

Political correctness strikes again.

The fact that he complains about it after behaving the way he did, tells me that kid has an attitude problem which is the bigger issue. Races cheap and then complains when called on it? Not good.

I have been thinking the same thing throughout this thread. If everyone, including the officials, thinks that the kid is a jerk and a whiner, then he is not going to get the benefit of the doubt in a situation like this. Lesson to be learned perhaps: Being an arrogant, unpleasant person can have real-life consequences.

I watched it again. It is a tough break since you ran a really good time and clearly have the ability to challenge for a State title

I think the fact that they were puddles in Lane 2 actually made it look worse because you ran through puddles and block the guy behind you when Lane 1 was almost completely clear

Also the guy behind you actually did have to break stride twice. Although it was fairly minor. Looks like he did break stride a couple of times just slightly and it looks like both of you were aware of possible contact

If they had a similar system to soccer it would probably be worthy of a yellow card, rather than a red card. But it seems like a lot of people are basing their opinion on the fact that the guy behind you won anyway.

Anyway, a lot of Runners do do stuff like this so oftentimes this isn't as enforced as it should be. Learn from it and come back stronger next time!

Why didn’t the eventual winner simply run in lane 1 coming off of the curve since it was open?

I was just watching NCAA women’s 800 prelims and the leader swung wide coming off the last turn. She moved out to lane two to stop a pass and no one said anything. Not commentators, not officials. It’s very common.

He ended up running 8:48 at Groups for 3200...

The video wasn't clear, but it looks like you planted a couple foot strikes in Lane 2 on the home stretch. I didn't see the other runner being impeded.

This is a DQ according to the rules.

But the rule is stupid and should allow for discretion/leeway in cases of jostling (not applicable here) or when no advantage was gained - and it's sometimes given informally in low-profile meets.

That said, you should have been hugging the left side off the corner and it would seem pointless to drift out - but running of a shoulder is habitual in group intervals or longer events.

Chalk it up to experience and use it to come back hungry.

The justification that officials frequently let this slide seems pretty dumb to me. Maybe if someone can provide a good justification to me on how intentionally moving to block another runner isn't essentially the same thing as making an intentional attempt at contact. The lead runner is intentionally (key word) forcing the blocked runner to react in order to not make contact. Just because the other runner managed to maneuver around you doesn't mean that contact wasn't attempted.

Lol, I think this thread needs to be revisited. The move Chelimo pulled is much worse than this one.

DQ Chelimo.

OP's first mistake was not being a famous runner like Paul Chelimo.