Two Women Finish Olympic 100 Meter Trial At Exactly the Same Thousandth of a Second
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On Saturday, two U.S. Olympic hopefuls, Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh tied for third in the trial for the 100-meter race. Only one of them can run this event in the Olympics. Officials initially ruled that Tarmoh had finished one-thousandth of a second ahead of Felix.
But then timers and referees took a closer look at this photo, shot at 3,000 frames-per-second:
The two runners finished in a dead heat. Photo: USA Track & Field
They ruled that the two had finished in a dead heat.
Now the two runners will have to break the tie either with a coin toss or a run-off. They’re likely delaying the decision until after they run in the 200 meter trial.
More from Smithsonian.com:
Olympic Athletes Who Took a Stand
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