Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller’s full length plunge over the finish line was not illegal and won her the women’s 400-metre final at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 15, 2016.

Bahamas’ Shaunae Miller’s full length plunge over the finish line was not illegal and won her the women’s 400-metre final at the Rio Olympics on Aug. 15, 2016.
Photo Credit: Matt Slocum/AP Photo

Track athletes brave rain, a dive and false starts

There was surprise Monday when Bahamas sprinter Shaunae Miller fell or dove across the finish line to win the women’s 400-metre final at the Rio Olympics. The move is rare but not illegal.

Dove or fell, hard to tell

“If it were to not be legal, how would you be able to determine that someone dove as opposed to just fell,” asks Chris Moulton, a coach at the University of Guelph in Ontario.

“The other thing is, it’s really hard to tell whether there’s actually an advantage to diving across the finish line. We teach our runners to lean for the finish line because that’s where they’re judged by—the torso of their body, the first part of their torso that crosses. So you want to lean.

Possible disadvantage

“But if you’re diving, you could be slowing down your momentum because you’re not making contact with the ground and you’re not moving yourself forward any faster.”

Moulton says runners at the Olympic level are very focused and not likely to be distracted by the possibility other athletes might dive through the finish line.

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Hungary’s Balazs Baji, left, and Canada’s Johnathan Cabral ran in pouring rain in the men’s 110-metre hurdles heat.
Hungary’s Balazs Baji, left, and Canada’s Johnathan Cabral ran in pouring rain in the men’s 110-metre hurdles heat. © Natacha Pisarenko/AP Photo

Rain makes implements slippery

Rain can be a challenge particularly for throwing events or the pole vault, where water can make the implements slippery and hard to hold. At these Rio games, the men’s 100-metre and pole vault were postponed because of downpours. In making a decision to postpone, officials try to determine whether there is a danger to the athletes and whether conditions will mean some athletes have an advantage over others. Athletes may have strict routines and schedules that can be disrupted by postponement but Moulton says that most elite athletes are used to making adjustments.

France’s Wilhem Belocian, right, was disqualified from the 110-metre hurdles after a false start.
France’s Wilhem Belocian, right, was disqualified from the 110-metre hurdles after a false start. © Martin Meissner/AP Photo

False start ‘cruel rule’

Runners also face what Moulton calls “a cruel rule” governing false starts. He notes that in the 1996 Olympics, Canadian Donovan Bailey won the 100-metre event after three false starts. False starts were common in the nineties and could delay a 10-second race by half an hour.

In 2003, the rules were changed so that one false start was charged to the field and the second disqualified the athlete. That did not decrease the false starts, but led to some gamesmanship, where athletes with poorer start techniques intentionally started out of the blocks early to try to gain some advantage.

So the rules were changed again and now, any athlete committing a false start is disqualified. It’s a strict policy, says Moulton, but as a result, broadcasters and fans have some assurance as to exactly when a race will start.

In one of the most-watched events, Canada’s Andre De Grasse took bronze and Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won gold in the 100-metre final.
In one of the most-watched events, Canada’s Andre De Grasse took bronze and Jamaica’s Usain Bolt won gold in the 100-metre final. © Sean Kilpatrick/Canadian Press

Track fun to watch

Moulton says there is much for Canadians to look forward to in the coming track events including Canadians Damien Warner in the decathlon and Andre De Grasse in the 200-metre.

But beyond that, the beauty of the track events he says, is that fans around the world often have someone they can connect with—either  because they are from the same town, or school, or know someone who knows someone—and that makes watching the events that much more enjoyable.

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