World Athletics Championships (Potential Spoilers)

semi-pro waster said:
All seems like a bit of a shambles unfortunately which isn't good for the competitors or athletics generally. Well done to Makwala for qualifying although it does appear odd to have made a decision and then reverted from it. Is there some sort of obligation on sporting bodies to do their best to act in ways that don't seem in the best interests of their sport?

There's been some pretty good performances by British athletes so far but not quite converting them into medals - Kyle Langford and Laura Muir especially.
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it will just drive athletes with injury's / illness to hide it so they can still compete.

I feel sorry for muir coming 4th especially with the person that beat her to 3rd place. I think that the rest of the women have a massive disadvantage in any event that Semenya is in.
 
The disqualification rules are pretty ridiculous sometimes. Just now a Brazilian runner Rosengela Santos competing in a women's 200m round got to the 'on your mark, set' point and she sort of fell forward from the block.

It was obvious she didn't try to jump the gun, it was a slip. So they disqualified her and restarted the other women. Why don't they use some discretion! I think it's bad enough that they disqualify anyone for jumping the gun just once, but disqualifying someone for an accidental mistake who has trained hard for months is way too harsh.

Eilidh Doyle comes 8th out of 8 in the 400m hurdles final. I know she's got some medals but we really need better athletes than her.
 
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Merlin5 said:
I think it's bad enough that they disqualify anyone for jumping the gun just once, but disqualifying someone for an accidental mistake who has trained hard for months is way too harsh.
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It used to be even worse when the first false starter got a warning and then the second false starter (regardless of whether it was the same person or not) got disqualified. Thankfully that was only for 6 years.
 
BaZ87 said:
I heard somebody mention that drug testing has got much stronger in the last year or so. Coincidence?
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Unlikely. Before the championships everyone was saying how fast the track was and we've seen nothing to back up those claims. In fact, the 100m was the slowest for decades.

I think a lot more sprinters are going to get medals taken away in the coming years as previous results are re-tested.
 
Was talking about that the other day. There was a graphic doing the rounds showing the top 30 100m times ever, with all the athletes found guilty of doping crossed out. Only 9 Bolt times remained. Reminded me of the Tour De France winners list before Lance Armstrong was busted.

Saying that though, Michael Johnson was a class above in his event and no one got close to his records for 20 years, and he was clean (as far as we know). So it can be done.
 
Merlin5 said:
I think it's bad enough that they disqualify anyone for jumping the gun just once...
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If they went back to the yellow then red card system that existed before the change came in that pepp77 mentioned, how many more false starts would there be? Certainly a lot more than there is now. You may end up with several athletes on a yellow, which adds disruption and slows everything down. That does nothing to help anyone, only those who are given a second chance not to false start again. Other athletes may be affected more than others in their preparation and concentration.

I think one false start equals disqualification system now, is the best one. Having several athletes on yellows is not an option and neither is having the second false starter disqualified, while the first remains in the race with a yellow.

As for the Brazilian who appeared to lose her balance, that was harsh to be disqualified. A false start is clear, slipping or losing balance looks completely different; unless a false start is not just given for an athlete jumping the gun, but any athlete that disrupts the start of the race in any way.
 
It's been an interesting evening again. It looked very harsh for the disqualification for Lynsey Sharp in the 800m although she's now been reinstated with a conduct warning - it seemed like a nothing clash at the time so I'm glad she gets through to the final after a good run. Lorraine Ugen wasn't too far away in the long jump but didn't quite look like managing to get amongst the medals. Nick Miller did well in the hammer but slightly frustrating he didn't manage to quite pull off the really big throw he was threatening to do. The women's 3,000m steeplechase was just a bit odd with athletes falling over and running round the water jump to take it all over again but well done to Emma Coburn for winning and setting a new championship record. Finally Dina Asher-Smith, given her season was so disrupted by a broken foot it's a surprise she even made it to the finals of the 200m but to run such a close fourth is both amazing and slightly disappointing for her to think of what she might have done without the injury.
 
I'm in the stadium for the morning/afternoon session. Bolt is doing the relay heats. Atmosphere in the stadium is awesome.
 
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