Truth & Character Thursdays

“The most important thing in the Olympic Games is not winning but taking part; the essential thing in life is not conquering but fighting well.” ― Pierre de Coubertin

Three sprinters were disqualified in the early rounds of the men’s 100m in Paris — including an 18-year-old from Mozambique.

The reason? For reacting too quickly out of the blocks as they looked to burst ahead of their rivals in the early stages of the race.

But what are the rules around false starts at the Olympic Games? And have they always been like this?

The Athletic explains…

What are the false start rules at the Olympics?

Block starts are used in events that are no more than one lap: 100m, 200m and 400m flat; hurdles over 100m (women), 110m (men) and 400m distances. The first leg of all relays starts from a block, but not the three athletes that follow (regardless of distance).

World Athletics rules that if an athlete moves within 100 milliseconds (0.1 seconds) of the pistol being fired to start the race, then that constitutes a false start. An athlete is disqualified if, within that time, they exert more than 25kg of force on the starting blocks — athletes push back in the blocks to start, which launches them forward. 

This rule is applied at elite-level meetings — such as the Olympics, major championships or Diamond League meets  — where fully automated force or motion sensor devices are built into the starting blocks. They are connected via computer with the starter’s pistol. In the vast majority of lower-level meets, they are determined visually by the officials.

Upper body movements are not measured by the blocks, so athletes may ‘twitch’ (head or shoulder movements) without registering sufficient force, which is deemed to not have sufficient positive impact to require disqualification.

Athletes are immediately disqualified after one false start. If an athlete false-starts, they are permitted to ‘run under protest’, providing the track referee finds reason to believe there is doubt. If the ‘Start Information System’ ratifies the time as under 0.1 seconds, athletes cannot ‘run under protest’. If they do, a decision on their eligibility (the reason for their disqualification) is made afterwards.

If the athlete makes an appeal and it is found that they were incorrectly excluded due to a false start, the athlete should be given the chance to run on their own to record a time in the event, and, if applicable, qualify for the next round.

Have the rules always been like this?

No, which is part of the problem.

Block starts have been at the Olympics since London in 1948 (athletes previously used to dig holes in the cinder track to start). Before 2003, as per World Athletics rulings, each athlete would only be disqualified after a second false start. Between 2003 and 2009, there was a particularly strange ruling that anyone could false start once, but that free-hit was then used up for the whole field, and anyone who false started after was disqualified. Since 2009, it has been the one-and-done rule.

It is not just that the disqualification process is harsh, but contemporary research suggests that the reaction time ought to be lowered. The 0.1sec threshold is a level that elite athletes have consistently been found to react at. 

In 2009, the IAAF commissioned a study to assess the reaction times of seven national-level Finnish sprinters (four men). The three researchers found “great variation in individual reaction times and confirmed simple auditory reactions as fast as 0.08sec”. The IAAF did not follow their recommendations to lower the threshold to 0.08sec, feeling the sample of non-elite sprinters lacked relevance.

There are upper limits to human physiology which training can never surpass, but the current threshold risks penalising smaller sprinters who are fast starters — smaller limbs can be moved quicker and having a smaller body means impulses travel faster. Great Britain’s Richard Kilty called it “a pathetic false-start rule” and said he was “punished for having a fast reaction” after a 0.09sec reaction in the 200m in a race in Poland.

Is it the same in other competitions?

The Diamond League, which is the elite-level ‘circuit’ most Olympians tour on around the world, is more lenient. Athletes are more readily allowed to ‘run under protest’ and for the final decision to be made later.

There is a natural degree of subjectivity and there is the interest of keeping races competitive, plus avoiding sending athletes home without racing after extensive travel.

Importantly, the Diamond League is not championship racing. These meets feature pacemakers (not in sprints, obviously) and wavelights to aid longer-distance pacemaking, which are not permitted at championships. Athletes use these races more as time trials and a chance to win prize money. 

Which athletes have been affected in Paris?

Steven Sabino will fly home having not had the chance to compete, after the 18-year-old from Mozambique was disqualified in the 100m prelims on Saturday.

“We went into a set position and I heard a bang,” said Sabino, who left the track in tears. “I don’t know where it came from. Probably the pole vault. I don’t know. I heard a bang, the kind of bang that you hear when the electronic gun goes off.”

“They didn’t even hear what I had to say,” Sabino, who has dreamed of running at the Olympics since he took up the sport at the age of eight, said. “I sacrificed everything for this.”

Britain’s Jeremiah Azu was also disqualified on Saturday and not allowed to ‘run under protest’ due to the clearcut nature of the decision. Next to Azu in the heats was Jamaica’s Kishane Thompson, the fastest man in 2024 (9.77), which may have added pressure to start fast — Azu is smaller and quicker out the blocks anyway.

Azu fought his case after the sanction, saying he reacted to a noise in the stadium, but his appeal was turned down.

“It’s a shame. It’s a lot of crowd noise, the pole vault is going on,” the 23-year-old Welshman told Eurosport. “It’s an Olympic crowd, they’re all so excited, I don’t fault them, but we’re on the start line and someone’s reacted to something and it’s set me off.”

Azu disputes his disqualification (Michael Steele/Getty Images)

U.S. sprint legend Michael Johnson often says that athletes should be so wired and fixated in the set position that any noise should set them off — but that noise should obviously be the gun. From a refereeing perspective, though, the impact of crowd noise is hard to legitimately measure.

Canada’s Aaron Brown also false-started in the men’s heats on Saturday morning.

No female sprinters false-started in the preliminary round or heats on Friday.

Are there any high-profile examples from previous Olympics?

As mentioned above, false starts mainly tend to affect men, who, on average, have larger/longer muscles and thus exert more force (some studies put it at around 22 per cent), so are quicker to exceed the force threshold on the blocks. The 25kg threshold is the same for men and women.

In fact, the last time a female false started in an Olympics 100m was in the preliminary rounds of London 2012. There were seven men who false started in the 100m in Tokyo three years ago: this included Great Britain’s CJ Ujah and Reece Prescod in the semi-finals, and Zharnel Hughes in the final. The U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay false-started in the final of London 2012.

Usain Bolt never false started at an Olympics. His only ever false start was at the 2011 World Championships in South Korea, in the 100m. Bolt was hardly racing (after setting 100m and 200m world records two years prior) and was forced to start more aggressively to try and beat Yohan Blake.

Bolt’s false start at the 2011 World Championships (Bill Frakes /Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)

At the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, the British sprinter Linford Christie arrived as reigning champion at the age of 36. It was certain to be his final Olympic Games and he cruised into the final. It was a high-calibre field and Christie produced a rare false start — this was in the two false-starts-allowed-per-athlete era.

Then there was another false start, this time by the rising star Ato Boldon. Then Christie false started again. He removed the second flag from his blocks and refused to leave for about five minutes. Eventually, he reluctantly stepped away as Donovan Bailey won gold in a then-world record time of 9.84 seconds.

Ethical dilemmas

Are the Olympics too heavily reliant on processes and not enough on principle?