So I tied a guy at my race today. We sprinted each other to the finish and had the exact same time to the second. It was a small and inconsequential race for both me and the other guy, but it got me wondering - what happens if this happened at a more high-stakes event. How do they determine the winner? Is there an official on-hand at bigger events at the finish line to judge photo finishes? I have never seen one, but this is the first time I’ve thought about this.
Just curious. Discuss.
Chips have sub 1 second resolution I believe.
Photo finishes are actually really interesting.
Example image.
-Jot
In a race I did, the top 3 in my AG were within 1 second of each other. 2nd and 3rd were 0.05s apart! That’s when you start getting regrets about which ankle you put your timing chip on…
But the race isn’t decided by when your chip crosses the finish line, it’s when your body crosses. So if you last stride is with your non-chipped foot, chip time will be lagging. This happened at the Indianapolis Mini Marathon in 2008. They declared a winner based on chip time but the 2nd place person protested because of the chip being on the lagging leg. In the end, the result was a tie.
http://www.atf-athlete.com/read_new/oneamerica-500-festival-mini-marathon-tie-declared