What really happened when Eric Sowinski fell in the 800 in New York

hmmmmmmm wrote:

Did you not watch the slow mo from head on the end of the race? Sowinski is on the lane line and Osagie drifts in front of him forcing him to move out and unfortunately that's when the contact with Kitum happened

I did, and Sowinski was not gaining on Osagie, and Osagie barely drifts anything to the left. And after viewing it again Kitum is actually slightly before Sowinski bumps into him.

And there was nobody who bumped Sowinski from the inside.

Not arguing with you about nobody bumping him on the inside, lots of confusion happens there at the end and I'm sure he wasn't even sure what happened. All I'm saying is that osagie drifting a bit caused three guys within about 1 lane of space trying to kick and make moves against each other in the last 50m is a recipe for disaster.

hmmmmmmm wrote:

Not arguing with you about nobody bumping him on the inside, lots of confusion happens there at the end and I'm sure he wasn't even sure what happened. All I'm saying is that osagie drifting a bit caused three guys within about 1 lane of space trying to kick and make moves against each other in the last 50m is a recipe for disaster.

What I reacted to was his talk about reporting it. If anything Kitum would have been in his right to report Sowinski, thats all I was trying to say.

Why Die? wrote:

Is there a race video up yet?

I watched it online, national channel allows you to see all Diamon League meets online after them being shown on the TV.

I think theres a vid in a thread called:

"Watch Sowinski dive!"

Barrakkus is an Assbag wrote:

If you ever had the balls to compete in a race of that caliber, you might actually know what you are talking about. Until then, you are just another armchair wannabe with nothing to do but spew crap. Just like the real Barrack.

I have nothing against Sowinsky, but both Letsrun and Sowinski himself reported this incident wrongly.

I merely corrected it. If theres anything you disagree with, say so, or remain the coward.

Has anyone here ever even run an 800?

The last 50-100m is near lights out

For what it's worth, this looks to be the interview from right after the race since his jersey is still on and not warmups like the said interview. He acknowledges that it wasn't Osagie that made contact. Probably just got things mixed up in the heat of the moment which is easy to do in big races like this.

http://www.distancepreps.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=31488&do=videos&video_id=90305

Hawki wrote:

For what it's worth, this looks to be the interview from right after the race since his jersey is still on and not warmups like the said interview. He acknowledges that it wasn't Osagie that made contact. Probably just got things mixed up in the heat of the moment which is easy to do in big races like this.

http://www.distancepreps.com/gprofile.php?mgroup_id=31488&do=videos&video_id=90305

Yea, like the poster said above, not that easy to recall what happened the last 50m, but I expected more from Letsrun. Did they not watch the race?

We didn't report it incorrectly. In our description of the race, we kept it purposely vague as we didn't know what happened. I was standing 50 meters directly in front of the finish, watching it live and their was no race replay available for the media. We had an employee watching it on tv but NBC's angle of the crash was awful.

We didn't know exactly what happened so we described the bare minimum.

That is accurate.

Then in the analysis part, we were quick to say, "Sowinski said" which clearly indicates it's his version of the truth. We also talked about how he was told to get lost by the officials, casting more doubt on his version of things:

Race replays from the international feed are up and they show the fall very clearly. Watch this link:

It's still even hard to say 100% what happened after that and I've watched that five times. It's not clear if Sowisnki is gaining on Osagie or not, but it looks to me that Kitum is gaining the most. Had they not fallen, I think Kitum would have beaten Sowinski but you are looking at a likely blanket 2-4 finish.

Having watched the replay a lot, it's clear that all three guys were flat out and running very hard and were very tired. Osagie sensed two guys behind him so he moved out from the outside of lane one to inside of lane 2 (or on the line). I dont think contact was made with Sowinski but Sowinski tried to react and move outside himself (as he's thinking he's going to pass Osagie) but did it very awkwardly and totally off balance. Then is when the contact with Kitum was made and once that happened it was all over.

I see why the officials didn't do anything. Was anyone violating the rules? If it was anyone it was technically Osagie but since no contact is made with him, it's hard to DQ him and in their mind he's probably just being rewarded for being ahead.

-Robert

PS. If I had to be my life on it, I think Sowinski probably finishes 4th if they don't all fall as I think the fact he couldn't move out and there was still some 30 meters to go shows he was totally flat out at that point.

hmmmmmmm wrote:

Did you not watch the slow mo from head on the end of the race? Sowinski is on the lane line and Osagie drifts in front of him forcing him to move out and unfortunately that's when the contact with Kitum happened

Or I could just say this poster is pretty much correct.

Watch it here:

I'm not sure if that view was not shown to American viewers.

Here is out interview with him.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzvScrRCg9Y

I certainly don't agree with the statement of: "at the official discretion, it was my fault."

He was running great.It was a battle for 2-3-4 and it's controversy like this that is good, exciting.

Letsrun writes:

"QT#1: After the race, we asked Sowinski what happened. He said he was closing well and pumped as he thought he was going to finish second, but got bumped on the inside (he wasn’t sure by whom but if that happened it likely was Osagie) and totally became jello legged and went down to his outside, nearly taking a slew of others with him. He said he was upset about it and tried to protest but was stunned when the officials told him not to bother as in their mind, they thought he was responsible. Our interview with Sowinski is embedded below the results – it’s definitely an interesting one to listen to."

I've just watched the last 150m of the 800m several times and what Sowinski says is just not true.

1. Nobody bumped him from the inside, at least not the last 100m, and it certainly wasn't Osagie as he was 2m in front of him. (haven't you seen the race Brojos? Terrible nationalistic journalism).

2. He was not looking better than Osagie, he was not gaining anything on him. Had he not fell it's unlikely that he would have gotten second place, Kitum however was going fast until Sowinsky tripped him.

3. What actually happend:

Sowinsky is between lane 1 and 2 a few meters behind Osagie, Kitum is coming up strong on his outside, Sowinsky decides to further out and he and Kitum bump into each other as Kitum doesn't see this sudden move from Sowinski comming.

Sowinsky loses hes balance and falls, slowing down Kitum in the process.

Kitum may have gotten second, but there was no way Sowinsky would have.

krispy kremlin wrote:

Has anyone here ever even run an 800?

The last 50-100m is near lights out

Another good post.

My favorite part of the NBC broadcast was when they didn't notice that Sowinsky fell. Then, during the reply of the finish, Lewis Johnson noticed all the contact that was happening behind the winner, and then was surprised to see that someone had fallen down. Well done, boys.

Hom Tammond wrote:

My favorite part of the NBC broadcast was when

Hope springs eternal... it will be about Lewis Johnson getting something correct.

after making contact Eric embellished the fall

I'm gonna take a stab at this: ummmmmmm, he F E L L. I think that sums it up.

I´d say the last 150 meters...

Didn't mean to come off as a criticial @sshat about it, perhaps I overracted. Guess I just reacted to much to what Sowinski said right after the finish.

If no bumps, this is what I think would have happened:

2. Osagie/Kitum

3. Osagie/Kitum

4. Sowinski