False and unfair starts 

The situation surrounding the start of the women's 100m hurdles final at the 2007 Australian Championships in Brisbane has provoked a lot of comment and speculation, much of it uninformed. This article considers the differences between fair, false and unfair starts.

To return to the Australian Women's 100m hurdles final, the gun was fired to start the race whereupon the defending Champion, Sally McLellan immediately indicated that her blocks had slipped and the starter recalled the race. To some spectators it appeared that the starter had only fired the recall after McLellan had indicated that she had been disadvantaged.

In questioning the start team after the race both the starter and the recall starter confirmed that they had noticed undue movement in McLellan's blocks and would have recalled the race whether or not McLellan had made any indication in that regard.

Rule 162.6 and 162.7 deal with false starts and are quite clear on what constitutes a false start. In simple terms false starts occur (a) when athletes commence their starting motion (ie commence their final forward movement leading to their start) after assuming their full and final set position BUT before the gun shot; or (b) they fail to obey the starter's commands within a reasonable time (eg deliberately holding back while others get on their marks); or (c) After the command "on your marks" they disturb other athletes in the race by sound or otherwise (such as jerking or twitching, etc in order to cause others to false start in which case the false start should be awarded to the athlete "causing" the false start.)

Rule 162.8 is the rule covering unfair starts and states "The starter or any recaller, who is of the opinion that the start was not a fair one, shall recall the athletes by firing a gun." So clearly the starter (or any recaller) has an obligation to recall any start which he considers was unfair. Unless there was some other infringement the race would then be re-started without any warnings being imposed.

Of course it must be remembered that any decisions made by the start team are subject to an immediate oral protest to the Start Referee who may overrule the start team, or later protest to the Track Referee. The Referee's decision is then subject to appeal to the Jury. In the race in question no such protests or appeals were made.

As a starter I have made numerous rulings in relation to unfair starts over the years and have witnessed many others. In my experience most unfair starts are as a result of blocks slipping or athletes falling/stumbling out of the blocks. It is accepted universally that the starter should recall any race where the latter happens in the first few steps out of the blocks.

Perhaps the most vivid in my experience was in the women's 400m at the 1986 Edinburgh Commonwealth Games when Debbie Flintoff-King fell as soon as she took a step out of the blocks. The experienced British starter immediately recalled the race for an unfair start. The race was then restarted without incident and Debbie went on to win the Gold Medal.

In my opinion justice was not only done but seen to be done. In my opinion such was also the case with Sally McLellan's unfair start.

By Reg Brandis