OT: Holding Hands Crossing Finish Line - Nay Nay

[RockyMTblue2]

A bizzare sports story. I understand the rule's purpose and it is in the spirit of sport to compete to the max. Why did they do it??

British athletes disqualified from Olympic triathlon qualification event for finishing race 'holding hands'

"Jess Learmonth and Georgia Taylor-Brown, who crossed the line in first and second position respectively, were deemed to have broken rules which prohibit a “contrived tie situation, where no effort to separate their finish times has been made."

Well if they were first and second, there was separation, no?

 

[Beemer]

I thought that it was because you had to finish under your own power??. I remember at the 1984 Olympics during the women's marathon a Swiss runner (name escapes me) got severely dehydrated and basically staggered into the stadium. She refused all assistance because she knew she'd be DQed if she accepted help. I would think that would apply here too.

 

[stamfordhusky]

I thought that it was because you had to finish under your own power??. I remember at the 1984 Olympics during the women's marathon a Swiss runner (name escapes me) got severely dehydrated and basically staggered into the stadium. She refused all assistance because she knew she'd be DQed if she accepted help. I would think that would apply here too.

No. Different rule. Here there was no attempt for either runner to help the other. But deliberately running beside the other runner and linking hands - which is often done in marathons when two runners want to finish identically - is not allowed at this level of competition. Doesn't matter if they failed to achieve their objective of an exact tie. BTW, with today's cameras and timing systems, to intentionally tie another runner is extremely difficult.

 

[MainefanSC]

So the 3rd place runner feels really good about being declared the winner! Just not right.

 

[Scud49]

That....sucks. Something is really wrong with this line of thinking.

 

[Fairfield Fan]

When I ran cross country in high school, holding hands with your teammate as you crossed the line (presuming you were winning) was seen as an act of team spirit. Way back when, there was an incredible team of cross country runners in Maryland's B-CC High School. I recall seeing five B-CC runners crossing the line in a line holding hands. They were that good.

This seems really silly. The two runners weren't holding anyone back, they weren't in danger of changing qualifying standards. They seem to have just been friends and revealing that sense of team cohesion.

Seems like another really dumb ruling from an Olympic organization that chronically makes dumb decisions.

 

[Scud49]

I think if I was the 3rd runner across I would not accept the trophy.

 

[stamfordhusky]

When I ran cross country in high school, holding hands with your teammate as you crossed the line (presuming you were winning) was seen as an act of team spirit. Way back when, there was an incredible team of cross country runners in Maryland's B-CC High School. I recall seeing five B-CC runners crossing the line in a line holding hands. They were that good.

This seems really silly. The two runners weren't holding anyone back, they weren't in danger of changing qualifying standards. They seem to have just been friends and revealing that sense of team cohesion.

Seems like another really dumb ruling from an Olympic organization that chronically makes dumb decisions.

The rule was clearly stated. The dumb ones were the athletes who chose to break it. People can and do have different opinions on whether there should be a rule about athletes not trying to win outright - but if a rule is in the book, they should expect it to be enforced.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

The rule was clearly stated. The dumb ones were the athletes who chose to break it. People can and do have different opinions on whether there should be a rule about athletes not trying to win outright - but if a rule is in the book, they should expect it to be enforced.

What makes you think they chose to break a rule? They could join hands in solidarity having come home virtually together in a race that temps said cancel, fully aware of the sophisticated measuring at the finish which would differentiate them and declare a winner. Which, OBTW, happened. Instead, terribly small people, in a terribly small room, decided to thromp on the joy of unbridled competition and sportsmanship. SAD, SAD, SAD.