Rohan Browning slams “plainly unfair” 100m qualifying rules at Glasgow Commonwealth Games
Glasgow: Sprint champion Rohan Browning has described the 100m heats at the Commonwealth Games as “blatantly unfair” and concocted to get some runners into the final.
The runners who achieved the eight fastest times in the first half of this calendar year automatically advanced to the semi-finals, without the need for heats.
Only the 17 fastest times in the heats will advance to the semi-finals in Glasgow. Normally, the top two finishers in each heat would advance, followed by the next two or three of the fastest runners in all heats.
“This is unheard of progress. It’s extremely strange,” said Browning, an Olympic and world championship semifinalist.
“I mean, it’s windy out there. So when they make these rules about having eight guys get through and the rest of the field getting through, you know, like in a time trial instead of first or second, the reality is some heats are going to have better conditions than others. So I don’t know what’s going on.”
“I think when you go to a championship, you prepare to run three laps, and the truth is, you have to run very hard for all of them. So, even though it sounds a little strange, I felt like I ran a lot there.”
Browning placed second with a time of 10.24 and advanced to the semi-finals.
“Of course it’s not fair. Frankly it’s not fair,” Browning said regarding the fact that eight athletes automatically advanced to the semi-finals without qualifying.
“It’s as if it was clearly designed to achieve a desired outcome. Whatever led to this decision, I don’t know what it was or whether it was reasonable. But clearly it’s not fair. I think everyone would agree on that.”
“You expect this [advance after automatically finishing second] but it is possible that people will gradually warm up and no one will be able to survive this temperature.
“Look, after all, this sport is meritocracy at its best. If you’re fast enough, you’ll pass.”
“So I guess you could say these guys have earned their place throughout the season. They’re probably the guys who are going to get to the final no matter what. But you don’t know… some guys might be injured, some guys might be out of form.”
Beyond Browning’s point, there was a massive wind of +3.9 m/s in the last heat of the morning, making any time illegal according to the records. However, no adjustments were made for wind in any of the heats.
While all the qualifiers had some form of tailwind, most were only mild, but this later changed.
Michael Gleeson is an award-winning senior sports writer specializing in AFL and athletics.Connect with: X or email.
