USA Championships produce sprinting drama
American sprinting endured an agonising night at the USA Track and Field Championships as Olympic 100m champion Justin Gatlin was disqualified from his heat before being re-instated.
If that was not enough, former world 100m record holder Tim Montgomery failed to take his place for his heat while Marion Jones, mother of Montgomery’s young son, dramatically walked off the track moments before her 100m heat citing a hip injury as the problem.
Gatlin’s disqualification initially meant he would have been unable to run in the event at the World Championships in Helsinki in August and arose after the whole field in his heat was put on a false start.
When computer read-outs then adjudged the Athens gold medallist had beaten the starter’s pistol by five thousandths of a second he was forced to sit out the race.
A protest was lodged and after 90 minutes’ deliberation the meeting referee Ed Gorman then ruled Mark Jenks, in an adjacent lane, may have contributed to the false start.
“I’m happy that the head referee gave me the opportunity to compete for the world championship,” said Gatlin afterwards.
