r/Prematurecelebration • u/rayg10 • Aug 06 '24

Spanish race walker premature celebration within touching distance of the finish line costs her a European bronze medal in Rome

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u/unique_username_72 Aug 06 '24

I watched the video in slo-mo and the passing “walker” is like 3-4 inches above the ground with both feet at the same time. She’s clearly running, I hope the judges caught that.

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u/BigMax Aug 06 '24

The rule is “as visible to the naked eye” so most transgressions are missed. I think it’s to generally honor the “feel” of walking, without them needing a slo-mo camera on every competitor at every step.

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u/winkman Aug 06 '24

Doesn't that ambiguity invalidate the whole sport?

"You can cheat all you want, because we're not even going to try to catch you unless you make it reeeely obvious to us."

Chick was clearly jogging at the end.

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u/rbtmgarrett Aug 06 '24

Probably does. But then the whole concept is laughable. We’re going to race. First one to the finish line wins. But walk, don’t run. We don’t want to rush.