Women’s 100m update – dead heat for third place

Saturday night‰Ûªs final of the women‰Ûªs 100 meters at the 2012 Olympic
Trials involved a photo-finish image to determine third place. Timers
use two camera positions for photo finishes: one on the outside of the
track and one on the inside.
 
The
outside camera is traditionally the one used in photo-finish images. In
the women‰Ûªs 100, the outside camera was inconclusive for determining
third place due to athletes‰Ûª arms blocking a clear view of their
torsos. Torso position is used to determine finishes and times.
 
Looking at the inside camera images, timers initially looked at the
twisting upper bodies of Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix and
interpolated the obscured body positions from the photo finish image.
They posted Tarmoh as finishing third in unofficial results on the
Hayward Field scoreboard.
 
Timers then immediately called referees to notify them of a potential
dead heat. The photo-finish image, shot at 3,000-frames-per-second, was
then analyzed by timers and referees and unanimously ruled to be a dead
heat based on visual evidence. Tarmoh and Felix are both officially
timed in 11.068 seconds. An image of the photo is attached.
 
USATF officials are meeting to determine the procedures necessary to
break the third-place tie.

 
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