Letesenbet MF Gidey!

If you don't want bad luck, be at front.

Gidey won the race fair and square. swallow it !

When you watch the replay, you can tell Gidey actually slows once she starts panicking about Obiri. If she had just kept her eyes on the line and run hard, confidently, without looking around and drifting, she would have won cleanly anyway.

Anybody know the last 400 split?

"Yeah she cheated but, like, if she hadn't I'm sure she would have still won anyway so it's all good."

lol okay bro.

60.81 for Gidey

It's not cheating, just gross to watch. But if you watch, you can clearly tell that's what happens. She tensed up so much and there was a visible drop in speed.

Thank you!!!

Is Gidey single?

By the time she was in front of her there was only a meter or two left. No was obiri was going to get past her at that point even with a clear lane

Where do you look up split times? And how does Gidey’s final split compare to Hassan’s in her Tokyo’20 10K gold? Am trying to get a sense of whether Gidey’s been improving her kick.

Go to the WA results page and scroll down.

Thanks, looks like Gidey’s 60.81 final lap split today was faster than Hassan’s 61.42 at Tokyo last year and much faster than her own 68.02 in that same race, so Gidey has definitely worked on her kick in the last year (irrespective of Hassan’s sub-peak form).

That was by far the best (only?) kick Gidey has shown us. Her previous front-running dependence set up this brilliant race. The amazing part was that everyone (especially Kara on the mic) was expecting her to take off with 2000 to go but she just got in front and chilled, controlling the race and saving for the last lap. I have doubts that she can break 2:00 for 800 but dang if she didn't unload a 60 on those girls when they least expected it.

I am disappointed to not see any post-race interview. She has very good English, and could represent Ethiopia very well.

for context, i am a very casual viewer of long distance running and generally disinterested in national allegiances or cheering for specific athletes...i just enjoy track & field. with this in mind ...

what are the rules regarding athletes impeding or obstructing others during a race?

i just watched the finish of the women's 10000m and it appeared as though the winner (Gidey) impacted the second place finisher's (Oberi) ability to make a finishing lunge toward the line.

i am interested in whether or not this is permissible in track and field for races that do not have lane assignments. (i am not interested in whether this would have affected the outcome, which is primarily subjective)

gratitude for sharing knowledge or pointing me in the right direction to learn further about the rules in such instances.

Gidey was within the rules. The leader is allowed to move right with right-of-way. Chelimo takes this to vaudevillian levels, but it's legal.

The norms matter more than the rules. Sort of like what is a foul in basketball. What Gidey did is pretty common and almost never results in a DQ--whether in high school, college, or after. Might technically be against the rules but, again, almost never called.

Similar in spirit to soccer but somewhat stricter. You can do what it takes to run your race including minor unavoidable contact, especially if you are boxed in the inside lane, but would be DQ’d if judged as having gone out of your way to push, trip, or otherwise endanger the other’s race. Ultimately it’s the referee’s call. Gidey moved tactically to her right to force Obiri to swing wider, which is standard and permitted, and her elbow contact was incidental even if a consequence of that cutting.

Some of the other people who answered your question beat around the bush, so I'll be accurate and direct.

What Gidey did is absolutely against the rules. The rules specifically state that runners aren't allowed to leave their lane on the straight and impede another runner. Not only did Gidey leave her lane, but she did it on purpose.

However, for whatever reason, officials typically don't inforce the rules, so it's up to the impeded runner to file a protest. And even if a protest is filed, the officials often still ignore the rules and often won't disqualify anyone.

It doesn't make sense to have a rule that the officials rarely enforce. Either get rid of that rule, or enforce it all of the time.

Where is the rule you speak of? Section 17 on page 25 of WA rules allows jostling to be subjectively judged by referees as most answers indicated and doesn’t disallow leaving the lane on the straight, which is done all the time in competition.