Usain Bolt made a total balls of his start in the 100m final at the World Championships and, in doing so, lost his world crown to fellow Jamaican Yohan Blake.
Bolt was clearly far too trigger happy out of the blocks and knew immediately he was at fault by pulling his vest off in anger.
The triple Olympic champion was automatically disqualified from the race, allowing Blake to win in a time of was 9.92secs.
“I can’t find words to explain it,” Blake told Channel 4. “My training partner has been there for me. I feel like I want to cry. I’ve been praying for this moment. It feels like a dream.”
Silver medallist Walter Dix spoke of Bolt’s disqualification: “I couldn’t believe it, it’s kind of surreal. I didn’t think they were going to kick him out. It’s pretty hard to kick Usain out of the race.”
There was a time when athletes were allowed to make one fals start before being disqualified for a second, but new rules were brought in by the IAAF earlier this year.
Rule 162.7 states: “An athlete, after assuming a full and final set position, shall not commence his start until after receiving the report of the gun. If, in the judgement of the starter or recallers, he does so any earlier, it shall be deemed a false start. Except in combined events, any athlete responsible for a false start shall be disqualified.”
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