Imagine that the dream you've nurtured for a lifetime came down to a coin toss. The U.S. Olympic trials saw a tie for third place in the 100-yard dash this past weekend as Allyson Felix and Jenebah Tarmoh both crossed the finish line in 11.068 seconds. Since only one of them can be in the top three and race in the Olympics, they will have to break the tie one way or another.
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(Image credit: AP/US Track and Field)
It took nearly 24 hours after the 11-second race ended for USTAF to announce its ruling that Felix and Tarmoh will be given the option of breaking the tie with a coin toss or a runoff. And it's not as simple as it sounds, explains the Associated Press: "If both athletes choose the same option, [that option] will determine the tiebreaker. If the athletes disagree, the tiebreaker will be a runoff. If both athletes decline a preference, the tiebreaker will be a coin toss." The runners have not been given a timeline to announce their decisions, but it's expected they'll wait until after they compete in the 200 meters race later this week.
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(Image credit: AP/US Track and Field)
Go for the run off. If you think you're good enough to compete in the Olympics, you'll want to go there knowing you're the better competitor, not that you lucked into it. Losing a coin toss would be far more difficult to come to terms with than losing a race.
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