WES FERGUSON DQd in 800

He did not. Yes, the rules must be 100% to the letter enforced? Really!? Where in life is that so?

The line of running in lane 1 is 30 cm outside the rail, because of the rail. Apparently the assumption is that they naturally stay farther from it to avoid tripping.

You can still step on the rail and be dq'd for it.

I'm not sure why the rail is there, other than to catch cheaters by tripping them.

Correct!

This how I think these infractions should go:

One judge observes whether an athlete objectively stepped over a line and raises a flag.

Then, a head umpire would make a subjective decision whether or not to DQ an athlete based on their opinion of if an unfair advantage was gained.

No reasonable head umpire would call a DQ in this case.

I can't believe the rule is one step on the line and DQ. They don't have a separate official watching each athlete right? So it's just whether or not the official happens to be looking at you?

Recurring theme here. Why does noone know this?

^This 100%.

Pretty sure this rule already exists at lower levels, even in some NCAA meets. I remember being told at a high school meet that 3 consecutive steps with the same or alternating feet would be a DQ. The only exception would be if it obstructed another runner.

Always thought it was 3 consecutive steps. That's what was drilled into my head in high school and college. Does anyone honestly think they scrutinize everyone equally over this rule? DQ'ing the relatively unknown D2 guy is a lot different than Hoppel or Murphy. How many steps do you think Athing Mu could take on the line before that flag goes up?

You people are hilarious with your conspiracy theories and such. There are multiple video cameras around the track specifically to help make fair and impartial judgments in situations like this.

You want some 68-year-old guy to decide that he likes the look of some athlete so they're free to violate the rules, but he doesn't like the tats on that guy, so he flags him? Yeah, OK.

Have you ever seen Mu commit a line infraction?

I'm sure Kersee knows the rules, unlike your coaches. Not fair I know, he's paid a lot more. But my coaches weren't.

Everyone do yourselves a favor and download the rules so you know them. This makes the sport look silly. Every serious football fan knows how many feet you have to have inbounds to get a completion, what constitutes PI or not.

And after all that, I agree, this guy probably had a badly paid coach too. Free him! But do it sneaky by disqualifying everyone and making them race again.

This is absolute BS. Does anyone have the name of that official? Would really appreciate it

I am going to bring this back up since Furguson just took down some big names in NYC. If he doesn’t sign a contract this year before the trials he will get DQd again. His DQ was solely due to money, Nike knew he could have made the world team last year but couldn’t see one of their guys kept off the team and lose out on the potential advertising.