No changing false-start rule, says world athletics body

Track & field’s World governing body, International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), said it had no plans to change the rule before the 2012 Olympics in London, despite the disqualification of the world sprint king and the sport’s biggest star.

IAAF President Lamine Diack said no official at Sunday’s council meeting raised the issue of the false-start rule.

“We will not come back to the issue,” he said. “Bolt had a false start, but that is not going to make us change.”

The “one-false-start-and-you-are-out” rule has been heavily criticised since last year when it came into effect and received even more strident reviews following Bolt’s stunning disqualification two Sundays ago.

Previous false-start rules allowed runners room for error, but too many of them led to delays to event schedules, and grumpy telecasters in particular.

Bolt was one of handful of high-profile runners that suffered false-start disqualifications. The others were Olympic and former World 400 champion Christine Ohuruogu, as well as fellow Briton and former European 100-metre champion Dwain Chambers.