Watch the final moments of the Men's 800m Final at the UK Champs in Manchester, as Josh Kerr suffered a fall while attempting to pass Elliot Giles but was th...
Giles runs on the outside of lane 1. Kerr spots ample space to pass along the rail. Kerr accelerates in a straight line. Giles slides to his left, impeding Kerr. DQ for Giles. Fair play to Kerr.
Nah look at where Giles's feet are. They go from the very outside of lane 1 before Kerr starts trying to pass him to the very middle once Kerr is moving up
Also that fall was brutal it looked like he fell over the rail and then his torso slid on it like a skateboard for a few feet
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
Giles runs on the outside of lane 1. Kerr spots ample space to pass along the rail. Kerr accelerates in a straight line. Giles slides to his left, impeding Kerr. DQ for Giles. Fair play to Kerr.
How could Giles see behind him (and "plan") when he has 30 meters to race.
Nah look at where Giles's feet are. They go from the very outside of lane 1 before Kerr starts trying to pass him to the very middle once Kerr is moving up
Also that fall was brutal it looked like he fell over the rail and then his torso slid on it like a skateboard for a few feet
Giles runs on the outside of lane 1. Kerr spots ample space to pass along the rail. Kerr accelerates in a straight line. Giles slides to his left, impeding Kerr. DQ for Giles. Fair play to Kerr.
How could Giles see behind him (and "plan") when he has 30 meters to race.
He doesn’t have to. The rule is you have to run directly at the finish line in the home straight if no one is in your way (although every coach will tell you to move over)
How could Giles see behind him (and "plan") when he has 30 meters to race.
He doesn’t have to. The rule is you have to run directly at the finish line in the home straight if no one is in your way (although every coach will tell you to move over)
Giles and Kerr were on the same line 1 in the last 100 meters.
The one that tripped the other is Kerr. No question about it.
How could Giles see behind him (and "plan") when he has 30 meters to race.
He doesn’t have to. The rule is you have to run directly at the finish line in the home straight if no one is in your way (although every coach will tell you to move over)
Precisely. Even if the impeding action was inadvertent, it is still a foul. Giles shifted laterally, Kerr held his line, moving straight ahead into open space.
1500 is a basically a lock for him in Paris and he does this.
*Going to make an edit to this one, more than one thing can be true at once.
I had originally praised him for fronting up and contact being part and parcel of the sport but yeah that's pretty stupid - that is not on Giles and what was a big crash that could have ended his Paris campaign and for nothing.
I smile at guys who point out minute nuances in athletes who are running the final 100m of arguably the toughest event physically, oxygen depraved, legs full of lactic acid and come up with "look how Giles moves his elbow those 1.5 inches to initiate contact" - I mean have some of you ever even run these distances?
Yeah Kerr sees a gap and he misjudges how much space there is. Whether or not he is fresher/stronger than Giles at this point of the race (he almost certainly is), Giles has earned his spot ahead of him and provided he doesn't make a conscious (is anything conscious at this moment of the race under the conditions I described above?) step across into space to deliberately impede someone it is up to Kerr to not attempt this move. Like tough luck - don't let guys get ahead of you (though I suspect this was really some retaliation for what happened with 200m to go).
So good on him fronting and racing, but that was dangerous and stupid. Might have cost Giles a spot in Paris and might have cost himself a spot in Paris.
This post was edited 10 minutes after it was posted.
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