- 13 Sep 08, 07:29 PM
Well there are few words to explain on Saturday night apart from saying 'He was robbed'.
David did everything right. He had confidence, and he figured out that the best way to run the race, was to go to the front and control it, and finish with devastating speed.
He called it his 'bogey' event, and he destroyed that myth with a perfectly executed race. As he came off the track that he had never won an 800m race at this level, and thanks to the Australians, he still hasn't.
Little did he know that just a few hours after the ecstasy of winning, he would be left devastated because of a protest.
The first we heard of a potential problem was when a couple of guys who worked for came past the 成人论坛 commentary box and asked if we had heard about the protest. It took a while and some running around to find out what the story was.
It turned out that there were at least two call sheets around and the one that the officials had in the final call room was different to the one that the athletes had seen.
raised his concern, but the race went ahead. That to me was a mistake.
If there was any doubt about the lane allocation then they should have let the guys go on to the track, but hold the race until they had sorted it out.
David won the race fair and square, and then afterwards the Australians protested that Fearnley (who thought that he was in one of the outside lanes), had ended up in Lane Two and had been disadvantaged, and the jury of appeal decided a re run was in order.
If Fearnley had felt that strongly about it then we have to ask why he didn't make more of it in the call room?
A more important question that needs answering is why was there more than one version of a call sheet around?
Instead Fearnley lost the race, and his team protested. It leaves a bit of a bad taste in your mouth.
An athlete decides what race tactics they are going to use, partly depending what lane you are in, but Fearnley is experienced enough to be able to adapt to the situation, you have to do that during a race anyway.
He didn't get around Weir at the start, chose to go in behind him, and as the race went on, he found that there was no way out. That is racing. That is sport, and it is tough.
To null the race is unforgivable. why didn't someone in the call room or one of the qualified officials who was around just call a halt to it and clarify the situation.
The Paralympics is about winning medals and countries will do what they can within the rules to help their athletes gain an advantage.
However, this feels like a situation where the officials could have done more The guys who race on the track deserve better than this, and so do the fans.
The whole of the British fan base will be behind David Weir on Tuesday morning, willing him on. It would be cruel if he doesn't win the gold at the second time of asking. Go David !!!
The 成人论坛 is not responsible for the content of external internet sites
Comments
or to comment.