I talked to Jill Geer the USATF Communications Director to try and understand why Alice Schmidt was in the 1500m final.
Quick summary, Alice Schmidt finished 6th ,one spot away from the necessary 5th place to make the final. Then after the race Gabriel Anderson, the second place finisher, was disqualified and that moved Schmidt up to 5th into the final.
Then, Anderson appealed the DQ, the DQ was overturned and that meant Anderson was now 2nd and in the final. That left Schmidt in 6th place, one spot from the final.
However, USATF said it will now put 13 people in the final including Schmidt.
Geer said it is standard procedure to put a runner like Alice Schmidt in the final if an DQ is overturned.
She said it would be like if there was a false start in the 100, a runner ran under protest, and was later determined not to have false started, then that runner and the other qualifiers would be advanced (we're not sure about this as what if there was a track with only 8 lanes in the final how can they run with 9?)
We are trying to find a USATF rule for this. Any help would be appreciated.
To me this seems entirely different as everything here is being done after the race. Alice Schmidt ran the race, finished 6th, a DQ was made, it was appealed and overturned so Alice Schmidt is still in 6th.
Also if anyone knows why Amy Mortimer was not originally put in the final when the DQ was issued let us know. It seems like if there was a foul big enough for a DQ then the person fouled should be moved to the final along with the new 5th place finisher Schmidt. Once the foul is overturned they both should be left out of the final.