Dispute over start flaps

After scandal: Sprint times from Africa deleted!

All sprint times from the African Championships in Douala (Cameroon) have been removed from the official results on the World Athletics website!

Instead of a starting pistol, the heats were triggered with a starting flap - as known from school sports, for example. The "Krone" had reported on this scandal. The results are now no longer included in the "Road to Paris", the qualification ranking list for the Olympic Games. On the other hand, the times are listed as "UNC" ("uncertified").

Fully electronic timekeeping more than doubtful
It is hardly conceivable that these times will ultimately appear as official results following a possible protest from Africa and a new review. After all, fully electronic timekeeping is more than doubtful with this starting procedure. The qualification period for Paris ends this Sunday in athletics. World Athletics received worldwide protests against the sprint times of the African Championships.

Strametz advances again
From an Austrian perspective, hurdles ace Karin Strametz was affected in this case. The winner of the African Championships, Eloy Morrison (Liberia), had been listed as a direct qualifier for the Olympic Games ("Qualified by Entry Standard") on the "Road to Paris" for days with her 12.70 (regular tailwind of 1.1 m/sec).

On Wednesday, she - like the other sprinters - dropped out of the results lists. At "World Athletics" she is also listed under "UNC" with her 12.70 seconds. Strametz had fallen back to 39th place on this qualifying list because of Eloy Morrison, now she is back in 38th place. Only 40 hurdles sprinters are allowed to compete at the Games in Paris.

Clarity at the weekend
None of the other Austrian sprinters were directly affected by the results from Cameroon. Markus Fuchs is in 46th place in the 100m (56 sprinters are eligible) and Enzo Diessl is in 36th place (out of 40).

Strametz, Fuchs and Enzo Diessl can secure their starting places for the Olympic Games in Paris this weekend at the national championships in Linz (free entry) with victories and good times.