xuder wrote:
Mary Decker. LA. 1984.
I've just been thinking of the same thing. The JH/GG crash is somewhat like the MD/ZB incident. In similar positions, with MD moving forward just as ZB begins moving towards the rail. Most if not all the blame was put on Decker, as she was running from behind and didn't do anything to protect her position. ZB, for the most part, was excused from blame because she was in the lead and could not see where MD was.
It is interesting to see more people defend GG on these boards than would ever stick up for Decker. Affirms in my mind that people laid more blame on Decker because of how she behaved AFTER the race, and not necessarily for what she did during it. I've often thought that Zola should have received more blame than she did for the contact with MD. She had just passed Decker, giving her some idea of where MD was, and after the first contact, should have known that it wasn't safe to move in. JH had fronted GG for quite some time, but I suspect JH knew GG was just behind her. With only a lap or so to go, you have to know people are going to start to kick. And after that slow pace, the dash for home has the potential to be frenzied. If you are up front and dying, you are going to really be in the way.
With that said, officials made the right call in 1984 by lifting DQ against Budd. Officials should likewise lift the DQ against GG. Contact sometimes just happens, especially on an indoor track. This wasn't a purposeful shove, it was a clip of the heels. These are two moving beings not of like minds who can speed up or slow down at any given moment. They're not equipped with blinkers and brake lights. When the person in front slows down and moves towards the rail just at the time the person behind picks up the pace, contact is going to happen.