Usain Bolt False Starts ... Or Did He? Video Proof That Yohan Blake Flinches and Then Usain Bolt False Starts

By LetsRun.com

August 28, 2011

(Check out our friends at all-athletics.com)

The big news out of day 2 from the World Championships is that the unthinkable happened. Not only did Usain Bolt not retain his world 100 meter title, but he also let the moment and the pressure get to him as he did the unthinkable and false started ... or did he?

Below you will see video proof that in reality Usain Bolt didn't jump the blocks without a valid reason. Now hold on. It gets even better. In actuality, there was a false start or at least a flinch, but it belonged to Yohan Blake - the man who went on to win the world title in Bolt's absence.

We know this is hard to believe, but it's all very clear when you watch the video below. You will see very clearly that Blake flinches his left leg and then almost immediately Bolt subconsciously reacts to this flinch and leaves the blocks. But Blake's flinch wasn't seen or felt by anyone but Bolt and Bolt himself apparently didn't realize he it, as he didn't complain, but once you watch this video, you'll almost certainly agree.

And the IAAF rules are very clear on this. No flinching is allowed. Part of three different rules indicate that what Blake did was illegal. At the very least, the start should have been aborted because Blake disturbed an another athlete after the "set" command had been given, but most likely Blake should have been DQed for false starting himself.

1) From Rule 162.5. "On the command 'On your marks' or 'Set,' as the case may be, all athletes shall at once and without delay assume their full and final set position."

2) From Rule 162.5. "After the command 'On your marks' or 'Set,' if an athlete disturbs other athletes in the race through sound or otherwise, the Starter shall abort the start."

3) From Rule 162.8. "The Starter should warn or disqualify only such athlete or athletes who, in his opinion, were responsible for the false start."

We know one thing - Bolt certainly shouldn't have been DQed. What should be done about it now? Well, the results should not be nullified. You don't go back and change the results of a soccer or football game after the fact, so it shouldn't be done in track and field.

In our minds, a match race between Bolt and Blake on the off day of the Championships would truly be epic.

Charge $10 per person, pay each of the athletes a ton and give the rest to charity. It shouldn't wait until after the Worlds. Bolt and Blake need to strike while the world's attention is on track and field.

( Editor's note: The first video below is very choppy and hard to see. If you want to do the analysis yourself, take a look at the 2nd video as it's clear as daylight).

Usain Bolt - Yohan Blake False Starts At 2011 IAAF World Track & Field Championships

Still not convinced? You can watch the raw footage from YouTube without our analysis for yourself here on the fantastic site all-athletics.com, just be sure to look closely at the 13-second mark. Many kudos to the guys at all-athletics.com for emailing us to let us know about Blake's flinch. We really love their site and have started using it more and more and it was instrumental in our making our $200,011 World Championships Prediction Contest Powered By PUMA.

Actually, we guess we'll paste the raw footage here so you can see it clearly for yourself. We've fast-forwaded to the 13-second mark. Watch Blake's left leg. It's very clear.

Usain Bolt - Yohan Blake False Starts At 2011 IAAF World Track & Field Championships







