We all saw this unsportsmanlike conduct on the weekend with Jeffrey Porter and then Bershawn Batman Jackson literally diving for the finish line in a quest to make the team. Should this practice be banned for the good of the sport? Discuss.
Pictures here:
no.
No. End of discussion.
I think they should make the finish line a jump pit to encourage such behavior.
How is it unsportmanlike?
You ask if diving should be banned "for the good of the sport," but you present no argument showing that banning diving would actually be good for the sport (or that diving is bad for the sport). You fail.
Because it is a discipline to see who can reach the finish line first by sprinting or running. There are no diving elements in track. Some of these athletes clearly threw themselves across the line to qualify ahead of others and in so doing denied others a spot on the team. I think it should result in a DQ.
AskerOfQuestions wrote:
Because it is a discipline to see who can reach the finish line first by sprinting or running. There are no diving elements in track. Some of these athletes clearly threw themselves across the line to qualify ahead of others and in so doing denied others a spot on the team. I think it should result in a DQ.
What!?! Your argument makes no sense. It's about who can cross the line in the least amount of time.
Disqualify the high jumper for going over the bar backwards.
Watch the video, they didn't dive. They leaned in a desperate attempt and their momentum caused them to fall forward into a "dive".
AskerOfQuestions wrote:
Because it is a discipline to see who can reach the finish line first by sprinting or running. There are no diving elements in track. Some of these athletes clearly threw themselves across the line to qualify ahead of others and in so doing denied others a spot on the team. I think it should result in a DQ.
the OP is stupid... besides, porter leaned and then fell after the line and jackson hit the last hurdle and never caught his balance and fell right at the line. if he hadn't hit it, he would have been 3rd
"Mr Porter said after the race that he had pre-planned to dive mid-air to the finish line if he thought it was necessary saying, 'I told these guys that if it's close, I am diving across the line' "
Aghast wrote:
Watch the video, they didn't dive. They leaned in a desperate attempt and their momentum caused them to fall forward into a "dive".
AskerOfQuestions wrote:Because it is a discipline to see who can reach the finish line first by sprinting or running. There are no diving elements in track. Some of these athletes clearly threw themselves across the line to qualify ahead of others and in so doing denied others a spot on the team. I think it should result in a DQ.
Bershawn Jackson clearly took a dive for the finish line but thankfully that was not enough to finish ahead of Kerron Clement. Same with the third place finisher in the 110M hurdles who dove for the line and made the team because of that dive. It is one thing to lean and stumble forward to the line but when both feet leave the ground simultaneously and the athlete is horizontal to the track it is a dive. Go watch the replays on nbcsports.com
roflcopter3 wrote:
the OP is stupid... besides, porter leaned and then fell after the line
Yep. And this is what everyone who "dives" on purpose is actually doing. An actual dive where you leave your feet slows you down. Leaning to the point of falling, if timed right, can help you get to the line faster. But if you're leaning to the point of falling, you're still running.
So either you're running through the line while leaning, or you're actually diving and costing yourself time. There is no way that you're gaining an advantage by doing something other than running.
Might as well as ban sliding into first base in baseball, too.
AskerOfQuestions wrote:
It is one thing to lean and stumble forward to the line but when both feet leave the ground simultaneously and the athlete is horizontal to the track it is a dive. Go watch the replays on nbcsports.com
And if both feet leave the ground simultaneously, the athlete isn't gaining any advantage.
You still have not pointed out any detriment to the sport of this perfectly legal tactic. (The effectiveness can be debated.)
I'd imagine that two things would discourage diving: 1) like another poster said, you are likely not gaining any advantage from it, 2) falling on your face going at a high speed does not feel very good.
But seriously, who cares? As long as you stay in your own lane. If some sprinter wants to jump the last 25 feet of the 100 meters I don't see any reason not to let him.
The detriment to the sport is when one athlete 'finishes' ahead of another because of the dive.
Why add insult to injury by DQ-ing a runner. Although it looks more dramatic, they have already penalized themselves by the act of diving itself. We all know that it's faster to simply run through the line, period.