John Drummond is a plank!

mike65 · 24-08-2003 6:27pm #1

Did anyone else see that idiot John Drummond in the second
quarter-final of the 100 metre sprint? Talk about making a show of yourself, he should have been handcuffed and led away.

Michael Johnson tore into him and rightly. The rules are the rules and the runners should know them.

The French crowd were as badly behaved as one would expect...

Mike.

ecksor · 24-08-2003 8:33pm

I think it's difficult to judge him, it was a harsh situation especially when you know you didn't move before the gun[*]. It was much harsher on Powell imo. As for knowing the rules, I recall reading somewhere that running under protest was done away with after the world indoors after what happened with Allyn Condon there, but apparently a lot of other people didn't know. March/April is a pretty poor time to be changing the rules at any rate.

Even if Drummond should have gone quietly, I won't be sorry if it makes them (righty or wrongly) have another look at the false start rule.

[*] Yeah, I know he twitched, but you know when you've twitched and when you've actually moved. I'm not saying he didn't break the rules, just that he didn't get a break. An ideal, if maybe impractical, situation would be to measure the movement of the hands.

gerire · 25-08-2003 12:14pm

Agree its hard on Powell, since when can 2 people make a false start, surely the person who goes first is the one who made the false start, and should be DQ'd. As for his actions he was right to make his protest, but the way in which the officials f'ed up was unbelievable. They hadn't got a clue between them. The biggest farce of a race ever.

Current 100m world Record 9.8something Time it took to run yesterdays race. 50+ mins

Ed Healey · 29-08-2003 6:49pm

The false start is mechanically/elctronically measured. The runner must hold still. The rule is the same for anyone and human error is eliminated from the call. Simple call. A runner either false starts or he doesn't.

Drummond knows the rules.

That was probably the worst display of poor sportmanship I've seen. It beats out Linford Christie at the Olympics by a country mile!

John Treacy's snub of Noel Berkley is probably the closest Irish Athletics has come!

kmart6 · 30-08-2003 1:48am

Originally posted by Ed Healey
The false start is mechanically/elctronically measured. The runner must hold still. The rule is the same for anyone and human error is eliminated from the call. Simple call. A runner either false starts or he doesn't.

Yeh thats true,but how does the computer know when the athlete is perfectly still as there will always be twitches naturely.

Drummond was also making the point that he didnt break the line which it says in the rule book u must do to be disqualfied from the race.

The reason Powell was disqualfied was because he had a reaction time faster than 0.1 of a second.But i do agree that only Drummond should have ben disqualfied.

I think they should change the rules back to everyone gets a chance to false start.

Ed Healey · 30-08-2003 12:10pm

The equipment and starting procedure is the same for all of the sprints. How many athletes were able to play by the rules?

Only one athlete felt aggrieved by the system. He was wrong pure and simple. Even the television cameras caught him out!

The movement of his foot was visible. The sensors also detected a reaction time that was too fast. Simple. Cut and dried.

A true sportsman would have left the track immediately with a wave to the crowd.

There will probably always be room for improvement in the timing equipment, but for now all must play with the state of the art equipment. It is a level playing field for hundreds of athletes.

Drummond is just another athlete and his disqualification should have been routine.

Pherekydes · 30-08-2003 8:14pm

That assertion is not quite right, Ed, and you know it! ALL of the current crop of sprinters are unhappy with the rule. It's OK for Michael Johnson to say it's fair: he doesn't have to compete under it. The fact is that Powell and Drummond were DQ'ed after 1 false start, while the athlete who got them warned, Thomas, the other Jamaican, didn't. (In fact Thomas went through) How fair is that?

Each athlete should have the same number of warnings: None or one (each). That's the way it's been since Grade School! (as Mr Johnson would say)

Ed Healey · 30-08-2003 8:53pm

When John Drummond toed the line he was agreeing to play by the same rules as all the other boys. When he was caught out, he threw a world class hissy fit!

The rules are there in black and white. I don't agree with them either. They are there for television, so that it doesn't take an hour to run off the sprints...sort of backfired didn't it.

I don't agree with the new narrow sectors in the throws, or the four throw/jump rule either, but when I get in the circle, at least I know that we are all playing by the same rules. What would have been measured last year is now a foul!

The IAAF have their heads up their collective arse at times, and these new rules are a very good example of how stupid they can be. I'm not defending the rules.

If John Drummond didn't like the rules he could have stayed home! If he had not been caught out, I don't think he would have said a thing about them...

Sore loser and poor sport!

Ed Healey · 02-09-2003 7:16pm

First of all I appreciate everyone's comments whether positive or negative.

But I believe all of you have your facts completely wrong. Unfortunately the print media, most of which weren't even at the event,reported events out of context. My protest, laying on the track was all of 10 to 15 minutes. I did this because I asked to run under protest, a rule that was ammended to the no false start rule.

Due to what I believe was a language barrier the official replied "no you broke first". So I protested. I clearly did not false start. It was obvious to me that there was a problem with the system, or the possiblity of foul play. I FOUGHT.
I fought what was clear to the naked eye.

After the protest, I got up and began to leave. One of the team managers ran up to me and said to go back, the coaches have an appeal in and you can run under protest.
What also held up the meet was the jury of appeals were no where to be found.

I went back to the starting line and stood. The ref came up to me and said, "we will allow you to run under protest." They escorted us off of the track to allow the other heats compete.
The meet director Sandro Giovanilli and General Secretary Ishtan Guylyi spoke with me and where apologetic and asked me to walk away to "avoid further scandal." Because I know these men on a personal level, I complied to their wishes.

I know the reports say I rolled on the grass and jumped in the steeplechase pit. That all happened after the fact. That all happened on the warm-up field after I had left the stadium. Unbeknown to me, they had a camera on me back there, and was showing it on the big screen in the stadium.

I wasn't rolling in the grass, I fell limp to the ground because I was enraged with tears to the point of cramps in my stomach and hyperventilation. My coach consoled me and told me to get in the steeplechase water to cool off and calm down.

The meet was held up by the fans in the stadium for 45 minutes, who wouldn't allow the race to continue because I was not in the heat. They booed and whistled each time the starter attempted to start the race. I was not in the main stadium nor did I agitate their actions.

I am not going to sit here and let any of you make me think if your livilyhood was on the line you wouldn't have done everything to protect it. Say what you will, but I know in my heart and it was obvious to the naked eye, and based on the rules that are in place and my clear understanding of the rules
I DID NOT FALSE START. My actions are justified. I did what I had to do. I fought for my rights according to the rules.

Could I have acted differently, possibly, but I did NOT expect to be called for a false start nor were my actions premeditated. I reacted to the situation at hand. I staged a peaceful protest, and the fans agreed with my actions and supported me.

It could have very easily gone the other way, especially since there is already a political riff between the US and the French, however it didn't, and the fans were in favor of my protest because and I will say it again, I DID NOT FALSE START!

Most of you in here watch the sport, I am actively apart of this sport. I know the who's who and needless to say most of them felt I was done a disservice.

Many of you get angry if someone steals a parking spot from you int the grocery store parking lot, I was robbed of an opportunity to become the World Champion! AND at age 34 that is something worth figting for!

All the best

JON DRUMMOND
CPOTAF@aol.com

sceptre · 29-09-2003 1:29am

I've some sympathy for Drummond. Back when I was sprinting I had a bit of a twitch (unintentional, it took me quite a while to beat it out of myself though) on the blocks. As Ed has said though, the rules are the rules and they're the same for everyone, even if you think they're rubbish (er, which they are - I'm sick of this "designed for TV schedules" factor that's creeping into almost every sport).

John Drummond is a plank!

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