The Cruelest Rule in Sports

Only one outcome to his first Olympics would devastate U.S. sprinter Ryan Bailey more than not running fast enough to make the finals in the 100 meters or suffering a mid-race injury severe enough to prevent him from finishing.
Anything would be better than a false start.

A late bloomer who didn't set foot on a track until his sophomore year of high school and focused more on football than sprinting until late in his senior year, Bailey has worked relentlessly ever since to harness his raw talent. The 23-year-old Oregon native can hardly bear to consider how frustrating it would be to have all those hours of conditioning, weightlifting and speed drills go for naught because of an ill-timed flinch in the starting blocks.

"That's the worst-case scenario," Bailey said. "I even feel like a false start is worse than getting hurt because you don't get a chance to run. To be automatically out before you take one step, that's the worst possible feeling."

Source: Yahoo

Comments