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Hey I got first! Come on England tonight!

it is a ridiculous and unnecessary rule..By my understanding, it was brought it because there were too many false starts which were taking up too much time. The major sprint events are the blockbuster events people come to see..Surely they can make time for a few minor delays..Bring in the old rule of allowing one false start and then create a maximum number of times a race can be restarted,,i dunno, lets say 4?

BOLT, the legend

I've got an idea for solving this problem but I don't know where to go for someone to listen? I't's so simple I can't believe no one has thought of it yet.

Kale - whats that?

The way i see it is that if the false start rule was brought in for the TV companies then that is wrong.

If it is to prevent "cheating" or gamesmanship then its a good rule.

Yesterday, Darren Chambers paid lame tribute to Florence Joyner-Kersee, pointedly ignoring the comments by his colleagues about her highly likely drugs use (the point was made that she never failed a drugs test....but neither did Marion Jones.)

Chambers went on about the 'power' she brought to the event, urged people to look on Youtube to see how good she was. He ignored the points that her times dramatically improved in mid-career and that no-one has come near her records since and instead went on about how she would have made the semi-final in the mens event at the British Championships.

After that....I have no faith in ANYTHING Darren Chambers says.

As for the article...perfectly good rule change, anyone else noticed that there have been far fewer false starts in the last 3 days as athletes have adapted?

Wow a quality piece of reporting this. Slaps is like starting a 100m sprint. I'm glad my license fee is well spent on enlightening journalism like this. Darren please slap Tom a few times around the head will you?

@6. Rob

At least try and get their names correct if you are going to comment. Surely you mean Florence Griffith-Joyner, not Florence Joyner-Kersee?... and who's Darren Chambers?

Wow a quality piece of reporting this. Slaps is like starting a 100m sprint. I'm glad my license fee is well spent on enlightening journalism like this. Darren please slap Tom a few times around the head will you?

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Did you even read it? He said Campbell demonstrated it via the game. Maybe you should spend more time fine-tuning your reading skills and not criticising a blameless journalist?

Did no 7 even read this article? Slap game was initiated by the sprinter whom I thought illustrated the issue very well with this analogy. Good article Tom.

Did no 7 even read this article?
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No, in his attempt to be superior he has made himself look like a bit of a plank. We´ll see if he has the decency to actually apologise to the journalist ....

It is very simple; for 100 or 200 meters events, you have a Starting Gate, (a system used for animals such as horses & dogs, where betting is particularly intense,) the Gate does not let you pass before you should!

I have to agree peter but for the other events it might me difficult to implement. For the 100m it will be cinch because they all line up together. It will remove false starts forever. I think they should trial it in the mens 100m and see how it works. It will ensure every race starts when it should and it will also ensure no athletes are ever disqualified.

There will be just one fair run, guaranteed.

I say trial it for the mens 100m and see how it works.

Not sure if the starting gate would work very well for people rather than animals - should they run a hare round the track too !!??

I suggest doing away with false starts altogether. And instead of measuring the finish time, we should measure delta(time) = finish time - start time separately for each athlete. This way, nobody gets disqualified for a false start; and nobody gets an advantage by making a false start.

One thing I've notived with sprinters is they do a lot of practice starts but don't actually do it as in race conditions ie not false starting and following the start procedure as in a race.

Look at Colin Jackson I don't remember him ever fasle starting and that was in the days when you were allowed one. He has to think about the hurdles as well and as good start and getting to the first hurdle first is vital.

There must have been races in the past where an athletes best race was left in numerous false starts, This is the fairest way

At the end of the day is it really the hardest thing in the world to not go before the gun? Imagine a concert pianist performing for hours without once hitting the wrong note. All the sprinter has to do is hit the right key once at the start and run as hard as they can.

Forders - this is excellent. I love your efforts to take the reader right in there with the athletes. The inside-camp-jennis piece was also great, and your decathlon blog the stuff of legends (Dirs only did his get fit piece to keep up). Keep them coming, it's as close as most of us will get.

@7 - I think your criticism is unwarranted, unsubstantiated and makes you look rather foolish. Besides which no-one makes you read this stuff. Instead of demanding your licence fee back (gee, that's original) go and listen to the shipping forecast instead.

If you watch Formula One do u only watch Qualiyfying because you want see who the quickest is or do you watch the race because you want to see competition.

Its a 100M race not a time trial. Starting is part of the competition. If you cant get it right why should you get a second chance when people who can have done fine. Allowing false starts is punishing those who get it right.

On top of that the majority of critics I have heard is from fairweather fans who don't follow athletics but like to jump on the bandwagon when someone transcends the sport like Bolt. I watched the Final and couldnt belive he false started it made the race much more interesting than him racing himself and getting a quick time. Because lets face it without Powell and Gay giving him competition I find it a little boring watching one guy win without competition and that isnt a criticism because Bolt is a once in a lifetime tremendous athlete.

I think this an excellent article, full of insight for people such as myself who have never been an athletics sprinter. Darren's analogy was perfectly pitched to help understanding.

Some good points from 18 too. I believe Bolt new he had no realistic competition from his fellow athletes in the final so he decided to attack the clock to create that competitive element; the best time in the world this year or possibly even the world record was his objective. A great start was need for a great time and hence his failure.

I haven't seen much of the coverage but did Bolt even complain? He knows the rules, accepts them and behaved accordingly. The result was his disqualification and for Tom's false starts it was a little pain, the slapsies analogy illustrating again for the layman.

Oh and 7, what a plum.

If the false start rule stays then perhaps the race should just be run after the gun for major events where video of the start is available. Whoever leaves the blocks ahead of the gun (or allowed reaction time) would be disqualified at the end of the race, whether they 'win' or not. Minor twitches, such as Dwain Chambers', where the athlete does not leave the blocks would not be classed as a false start.
If Yohan Blake twitched in the 100m final he should have been given the false start under the current rules, especially if it was before Bolt took off. Under my proposal. Bolt might have still been disqualified after the race, but could have run and protested later.
It would be much the same as a stewards' inquiry in horse racing.

Really interesting article.

My concern with the false start rule, picture a twitchy Olympic Final, Bolt, Gay and Powell all lined up alongside each other, nerves jangling, and one (or more gets disqualified) it feels to me like thats ruining the spectacle.

I agree there were times when it got time consuming with the yellow card stuff but the one yellow to the whole field then DQs rule was good, and the little extra wait I found helped to build excitement and anticipation in the fans. Certainly I didn't feel fed up of mift about having to wait!

I should add that this is a great article as usual by Fordyce really bringing a different angle to bring in people to the sport. Campbell good as well.

I've noticed you've not raced for a bit though Tom, get those spikes back on!

Tom, your comment regarding Bolt's "cartoonish antics" struck me as mean spirited. A world class athlete who has struck a connection with his countrymen and whose enthusiasm for his sport is obvious should be given more courtesy than you display.

I, like you, do not preen before an athletic competition. To run our race without a per-race pose is a personal decision which I applaud. But then again we are not a world record holders, with a marketing campaign, and an entire country in support.