IT’S OVER BEFORE IT’S OVER
A small controversy arose at last Friday’s USA/Mobil Indoor Track & Field Championships in New York City when the men’s mile was declared a dead heat, in 3:57.35, between Steve Scott and Marcus O’Sullivan. Both runners agreed that Scott, with a late surge and lean, had reached the finish line tape slightly ahead of O’Sullivan. Scott even took a victory lap. He should have known better. Finish line tapes for track races are always a few inches beyond the finish line so that they don’t interfere with the electronic photo timer, which sits at the actual finish line. “I feel a little cheated.” said Scott. “What’s the point of having a finish line tape if it’s not where the finish line is?” Tapes aren’t used at outdoors meets anymore. But as Bob Hersh, rules committee chairman of the Athletics Congress, track’s U.S. governing body, says, “Indoors there’s a lot of clutter, and different finish lines are used for different…
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