
CMV: Timing/guessing when the gun goes off should be allowed in track sports
“In track and field sprints, the sport's governing body, World Athletics, has a rule that if the athlete moves within 0.1 seconds after the gun has fired the athlete has false-started.[4]”
IAAF-commissioned study indicated in 2009 that top sprinters are able to sometimes react in 0.08 seconds.
I think this is silly. A top sprinter being disqualified or penalised for reacting too fast is ridiculous. There is a varied and somewhat random amount of time that the gun can go off after “set” so the risk reward of going before the gun is punished enough if you get it wrong.
My bigger point is that is a world where .02 is the difference between winning and losing, penalising sprinters for doing their job seems goofy AF.
Post edit: we have the technology to time everyone based on when they started moving. If you want to remove reaction time or guessing from the sport, just use individual times and not bother lining them up.
I like it better with the risk reward of timing the gun.