Explain to me how Felix loses because the other runner dived and she didn't?

We already have an event where you execute a horizontal jump at the end of a sprint. That is called the long jump. The way I see it, you should not be allowed to jump in a sprint. Sprinters--all of them--are trained to lean at the end of a sprint, not jump.

But there's something else that has not been discussed here, which is anti-Americanism/anti-favoritism in lane assignments in the track events. I did not notice this is lane assignments for swimming. All of these people have been assigned outside lanes in prelim races (normally for the slowest people):

Torri Bowie

Tianna Bartoletta

Justin Gatlin (lane 8)

Devon Allen

Ronnie Ash

...also

Dafne Schippers

Elaine Thompson

Shelly-Ann Fraser Pryce

Sydney McLaughlin (lane 2, with the fastest mark in the heat, while as the slowest qualifier she was still placed in lane 2).

This has happened so many times (favoriting slower people) that it can't be random coincidence.

In the women's 400, Allyson Felix and Shaunae Miller--with the 2 fastest times in the world--were placed in the same semi, and there is not any rational explanation for this, which caused Allyson to use up extra energy to finish first.

which caused Allyson to use up extra energy to finish first.

You don't win anything for finishing first in the semi-finals. Kind of a no-brainer concept, so it's her own fault. Outside lane (7) was faster in the finals anyway (see men's WR), so getting a central lane didn't mean anything.

a better view

https://scontent-sea1-1.xx.fbcdn.net/v/t1.0-9/13962495_10154045083402881_2447712080987412583_n.jpg?oh=2836793f266b4cd29b630a9627246785&oe=585A8C35

"Dived"????

Are kidding me, dude?

Same reason that Neville (USA) beat out Brown (Bahamas) for bronze in 2008.http://www.usatf.org/Athlete-Bios/Archive-Bios/David-Neville.aspx

n the 2008 Olympic 400m final, out of Lane nine, he physically dove across the finish line with a time of 44.80 seconds, holding off Bahamian Chris Brown who placed fourth in 44.84. “Sometimes we have to sacrifice our bodies, our minds, our spirits,” Neville said after the race. “That’s what I did. I knew I had to dive.”

I remember how upset everyone was with Christian Smith in 2008 when he dove across the line in the 800m final to secure 3rd place at the trials and qualify for the Olympics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WJsrgKSmIFo

.

Do you guys all remember how unfair that was and how mad everyone was when it happened?

Stick with eharmony wrote:

That's not fair

She lost because she didn't get to the finish line first, nor did she ever run fast enough to pass Miller down the home straight. Miller did not get in front in the last couple of meters, it was 50m or more before the finish.

Star wrote:

If Felix dove she still would have lost.

The effort of diving slows your stride but it extends your torso.

So it's break even.

Yes, that is why it's silly when you see baseball players dive at first base. They would get there faster just running through the bag.

Honestly, I'll say again what I said after Felix lost third to Prandini in the 200m. There is no way that a runner who is prone on the ground crossing the line should be awarded the place over someone actually running across the line in a running race. In football, if your knee touches the ground before the ball crosses the line, it's not a touchdown. In track, the same could apply, if you are down before your chest crosses the line.

LOL @ Americans getting mad at the rules

And now a conspiracy. I heard they put lead weights in their spikes too.

coach d wrote:

Sydney McLaughlin (lane 2, with the fastest mark in the heat, while as the slowest qualifier she was still placed in lane 2).

The fastest mark in what heat? Certainly not the one she was in yesterday.

I also thought that this was outlawed after Hildenbrand got Bronze ahead of Dixon in the 1976 5000m. I thought that your torso had to be at least two feet above the ground when crossing the line. Mind you Miller might pass this threshold. I don't know. I guess I was wrong.

Why would anybody want diving outlawed. It's brilliant. You never truly wanted anything in life that you weren't prepared to dive for.

Maybe we should follow swimming's lead and have 2 races for each track event, one where any forward propulsion is allowed (freestyle race) and another restricted to running only

I think EA Sports ("If it's in the game, it's in the game") had an option to dive across the finish line in their latest T&F selection.

If your opponent falls down and you still lose, you should be embarrassed.

Star wrote:

If Felix dove she still would have lost.

The effort of diving slows your stride but it extends your torso.

So it's break even.

Sorry But Felix would have won, by a very small amount if she had dived.

Her hips were well ahead of Miller's.

However it could have injured her and hurt her for the relays.

Felix ran within .25 of her All Time PR at almost 31, after 49.67 in semis

I am wondering what folks think she could have done here?

Caster Semen.....ya wrote:

I thought that your torso had to be at least two feet above the ground when crossing the line. . . . I don't know. I guess I was wrong.

You were, but props to you for admitting it! All you have to do is get some part of your torso to the plane of the finish line first. (And to an earlier poster: yes, that includes breasts. FYI there's no particular advantage to larger mammaries overall, because there's an energy cost involved in carrying them to the finish.) In college we had a hurdler who won a big indoor race by hitting the finish line flat on his back. Great finish photo...

The one wrinkle (and I haven't found it in a rulebook yet, so *I* could be wrong) is that, as neophyte officials, we were told the runner had to *cross* the finish line--that is, someone who gets her/his torso to break the plane of the finish line, but doesn't (eventually) get all of her/his body past the line, has not officially finished.

I saw this once at a cross-country meet: one runner was running on fumes the whole last straight and fell down on the finish. She was *tentatively* awarded place X, but it was some seconds before she curled into a fetal position, which drew her legs past the line.