What is the biggest injustice of track and field history?

Never give up, never surrender wrote:

1972 Munich...

400m- Wayne Collet, Vince Matthews (also John Smith- inj), and by extension the US 4x400 relay,

100M- Eddie Hart and Rey Robinson,

(and how can you talk of injustice and Munich without mentioning the US basketball team)

The real injustice was to Lee Evans, Maurice Peoples, & Tommy Turner. There was no injustice to Matthews or Collett......or even to John Smith.

António Cabral wrote:

Paula Radcliffe 2:15 marathon WR because it´s illegal. A race confined by the London competition norms to women participation with a different start moment from the men, and they allow 3 men kenyan rabbits to pace her.

Also 1979 (?) World Cross Country Champs, when the organisers lie to the Ethiopan team that the run circuit - laps over horse field track - is 1 lap shorter that really was. Despite that they were able to win individual and team as well, but the second, third, fourth and next Ethiopian runners they would be able to finish 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th so and so, if they were betrayed by the lie of one lap less that what really was.

I think you are talking about the 1981 WCCC (where Virgin won for the 2nd time in a row).

Mohammed Kedir was 2nd (not 1st) just 2 seconds back, and Berhanu was 7th (17 seconds back), but the 3rd-5th runners (Nedi-Balcha-Yifter) were back in 13-14-15th place ... 35 seconds back.

They won the team title anyway, so no injustice there. None of them would have won the individual title. It was not like they had to run an extra lap compared to everyone else, they ran along with everyone for 4 laps and it was the same pace for them as it was for everyone else.

Virgin was 6th in 1978 and 13th in 1979 and 1st in 1980. Just like there was a reason why Yifter won two titles at the Moscow Olympics (he was the best in the world at that moment), there was a reason why Virgin won a second title in 1981.

Absolutely agreed, not only was Patrick's omission an injustice, but the way he was left off was clearly not just. The rationale was to make sure that all of the team members were capable of running in the Games' altitude of Mexico City, but Patrick had won the earlier trials and then in the Tahoe Trials (at altitude) had a time in semi heat faster than the three that beat him in the final to make the team.

oldold runner wrote:

1936 Munich marathon champion Son Gi-Jeong.

He was Korean and made to run under the Japanese flag. When Japan occuppied Korea in the 1930's .

All three "Japanese" runners were Korean.

They won gold , bronze and a dnf.

They guy who DNFed was not Korean. He was chosen because another guy got sick right before the Olympics. Another guy (who held WR before Son) withdrew from the trial so that he could give blood to his sick brother.

Luca Barzaghi getting ambushed by the rabbit at LA in '94.

Not the worst but worthy of mention: Baldini getting his gold medal tainted because some fruitcake ran on the course and tried to tackle de Lima.

XCrunner15 wrote:

Most runners said if they didn't make top 3 at Lake Tahoe that they didn't deserve to be on the team.

Which ones said that? I don't recall hearing or reading anything like that but maybe it happened. At any rate, it doesn't matter what most runners said. There was a procedure which had been described in advance and then changed. If I've won the first trial and was told that doing that had definitely put me into the Olympic team as long as I "demonstrated fitness" at the second trial and I'm near the top three at the second trial I may decide that there is no need to hammer myself in a race for a spot I've already earned and so maybe I don't hammer myself. A deal is supposed to be a deal.

That also happened to Sam Bair, Jr. of Kent State in the 1500m trials.

Not in the history of track and field, but in the history of NJ high school competition... in 2011 at the state open meet, a legendary boys' 3200m was stopped 7 LAPS IN due to lightning. Some of the competitors included both Jim and Joe Rosa of Stanford, Morgan Pearson of Duke/Colorado, Matt McDonald of Princeton, and Jeramy Elkaim of Oregon.

All of the above would have been well under 9 minutes, and Joe Rosa hit seven laps at around 7:33. He was on pace for one of the fastest times in history and the officials linked arms across the track to stop him from continuing. An absolute disgrace.

The Race:

http://youtu.be/V4X3dB8i-mw

I apologize if this was posted earlier, but I didn't feel like reading all seven pages of posts.

My feelings is the various politically-motivated Olympic boycotts are the biggest injustices. Some countries, such as Kenya, were robbed of two consecutive Olympic appearances. Henry Rono, for one, would have been a medal possibility in 1976 AND 1980. Of course, the world missed seeing a John Walker/Filbert Bayi matchup in 1976. Many others, too numerous to mention.

Fking Jimmy Carter, hate that idiot. 1980 boycott, denied Craig Virgin a 10k medal, at least a silver and I realize this isnt track, but Greg Louganis a gold in diving. Bill Rodgers was screwed too.

hear hear. these guys who turn a blind eye - especially to king carl's doping are nuts

canuck runner 1980s wrote:

Wrong, Ben being the only one DQ'd in that race. Whole race should have an asterisk

Several people in your linked video mention his split was 7:38/9, so with a 65+ last lap probably 8:43-45 for 3200; a very good time and prob a meet record, but no more.

NJXC Guy wrote:

Not in the history of track and field, but in the history of NJ high school competition... in 2011 at the state open meet, a legendary boys' 3200m was stopped 7 LAPS IN due to lightning. Some of the competitors included both Jim and Joe Rosa of Stanford, Morgan Pearson of Duke/Colorado, Matt McDonald of Princeton, and Jeramy Elkaim of Oregon.

All of the above would have been well under 9 minutes, and Joe Rosa hit seven laps at around 7:33. He was on pace for one of the fastest times in history and the officials linked arms across the track to stop him from continuing. An absolute disgrace.

The Race:

http://youtu.be/V4X3dB8i-mw

even older than you wrote:

oldold runner wrote:

1936 Munich marathon champion Son Gi-Jeong.

He was Korean and made to run under the Japanese flag. When Japan occuppied Korea in the 1930's .

All three "Japanese" runners were Korean.

They won gold , bronze and a dnf.

They guy who DNFed was not Korean. He was chosen because another guy got sick right before the Olympics. Another guy (who held WR before Son) withdrew from the trial so that he could give blood to his sick brother.

This is where I got my information. Where did you get yours?

Carl Lewis 30' jump:

http://joeposnanski.com/joeblogs/the-30-foot-jump/

"... July 24, 1982. This was at the National Sports Festival in Indianapolis. Lewis was not yet famous, except among the most intense track fans. He was not yet decorated. He did not know yet what was to come. He was, as usual, competing in both the long jump and other events, and because of that his schedule was crazy. He tried his first jump, fouled, and was taken away to run in the 4×100 relay. His team ran the fifth-fastest time ever. He then returned to try another jump, and he fouled again (this was early in his career, when he was athletically supercharged but before he had perfected his form). He was taken away again to accept the gold medal in the relay.

He returned and fouled a third time. And then he was ready. He would remember: He felt his body buzzing with energy. He could fly. The feeling was unlike anything he had felt before. Before the day began, a reporter had asked him if it was possible to jump 30 feet. He shrugged: “That’s unpredictable,” he said. “I haven’t jumped 29 feet yet.” But he knew that jump was inside him. He stepped up and began his approach. Athletes often talk about being in a zone — Lewis has never liked that word. It’s not a zone, he says, but a feeling of extreme focus, when you’re simply aware of everything. Lewis was aware. He felt that clean liftoff as he hit the board. He knew immediately. He was flying. When he hit the sand, he knew. He had broken the world record. He had jumped 30 feet. He looked down and saw the mark and his mind detonated. He was 21 years old, and he had just made the longest jump in the history of the world.

“What was going through my mind?” Lewis asks. And he answers: “‘Whoop! ‘That’s what was going through my mind. ‘Whoop! This is it! I did it!’”

He did it. Only, he didn’t, of course. When he looked back. he saw that the official had said he fouled. “There are no long fouls.” Lewis did not even know how to react. He KNEW he didn’t foul. He knew it with every strand of his DNA. “All I was thinking was: ‘Wait a minute … what are you talking about?’” Lewis says now. He raced over to the official and pointed out the mark of his shoe. It was clearly not across the line. He had done it. He had jumped 30 feet. He had done the impossible. Only the official was shaking his head. He was not listening. There was no review. And by then, someone had already raked the sand, erasing the mark that labeled sports history.

(The official) wouldn’t talk to me,” Lewis says. “He wouldn’t explain. This is what our sport is … it’s not for the athletes, it’s not for the fans. It’s for the officials. Think about that moment. Think about what that moment would done for the sport. And they wouldn’t even look to see the mistake.”

Lewis doesn’t even talk about what it would have done for him. On his next try, he jumped a clean 28 feet, 9 inches — at the time the second long jump ever. But he could not get that 30-foot jump out of his mind. For the rest of his life, he would be convinced that he had not fouled. “When you’re a long jumper you just KNOW when you foul,” he says. “There’s a feeling you have. I know I didn’t foul. I know that was a clean jump.”

“Then,” Lewis says, “I see the guy rake the pit. And it’s gone.”

He pauses.

“Gone,” he says again.

Gatlin

Brianruns10 wrote:

Henry Rono being denied by boycotts a chance to compete in either 1976 or 1980. It's hard to say if he could've stood up to the kick of Vieren or Yifter, but he definitely would've been in the mix for a medal in the 5 or the 10k, and he likely could've won gold in the steeple.

Rono vs. Virgin in Moscow may well have caused the stadium to blow up.

Efraimson Zimbalist Jr. wrote:

I apologize if this was posted earlier, but I didn't feel like reading all seven pages of posts.

My feelings is the various politically-motivated Olympic boycotts are the biggest injustices. Some countries, such as Kenya, were robbed of two consecutive Olympic appearances. Henry Rono, for one, would have been a medal possibility in 1976 AND 1980. Of course, the world missed seeing a John Walker/Filbert Bayi matchup in 1976. Many others, too numerous to mention.

I have to agree with those boycotts being the biggest injustice. Rono was denied two Olympics around his peak. Bill Rodgers was still a medal threat as one of the world's best marathoners in 1979. Craig Virgin was the World Cross Champ and was a 10,000 medal contender. After 1981 due to his kidney issues he was never going to be back to the level he was on the world scene in 1979 and 1980. Not to mention Harvey Glance in the 100.

Also Don Paige was a strong threat for at least a bronze in the 800. James Robinson too with the way that race played out, 54 first 400.

The 1980 US boycott was bullshit. But it was the cold war years and Carter certainly couldn't consider engaging the Soviets. In hindsight that boycott politically was irrelevant,

oldold runner wrote:

even older than you wrote:

They guy who DNFed was not Korean. He was chosen because another guy got sick right before the Olympics. Another guy (who held WR before Son) withdrew from the trial so that he could give blood to his sick brother.

This is where I got my information. Where did you get yours?

http://www.sports-reference.com/olympics/summer/1936/ATH/mens-marathon.html

But in the greatest running related "Count of Monte Cristo" inspired act of revenge, 56 years later Son Gi-Jeong coached Korean runner Hwang Young-Cho to an Olympic Marathon gold medal in 1992 over 2nd place Japanese runner Koichi Morishita. This is the kind of story line movies are made out of.