Viewing a single comment thread. View all comments

ANOKNUSA t1_iu3t0qx wrote

Reply to comment by jados112 in TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed. by The_Critical_Cynic

It’s also a matter of sound, which radiates outward from its source at variable speed depending on different factors. This seems like something that can’t be reliably measured to that degree of precision. Feels like the kind of problem engineers and bureaucrats invent to justify their jobs.

21

nitefang t1_iu4kgbt wrote

Is it standardized where the official with the starter pistol stands?

There is a theory I like but wouldn’t call reliably proven that says humans and animals often subconsciously taken in information and even subconsciously analyze it to come to conclusions they aren’t can’t explain the reasoning for. In context this is more about short term things, not abstract ideas. It is relevant in that if the theory is true it would mean some of the runners could be taking in information like the official holding the starting pistol a certain way and even the movement of their finger and be reacting to that making it seem like their reaction to the shot is very short. Though some put forward this theory could even include information you couldn’t even learn to look for, like a tiny reflection a hundred feet away that shows the ref (behind the runner) flexing their finger to pull the trigger.

I like the theory but it is probably BS.

3

apawst8 t1_iu5mbd7 wrote

It's BS because each lane has its own speaker. So there's no time difference in hearing the signal.

5

snow_michael t1_iu4evr3 wrote

The reaction time is also now at the point where distance from the starter's pistol^1 is becoming a factor

^1 technically from the collapsing waveform of the sound envelope. A starter's pistol 'Bang' does not radiate from the gun evenly in a circle, rather in a 3D teardrop shape

Depending upon the angle the starter fires it, it is not impossible that the moving sound wave could hit the eardrum of the second closest runner before the closest

Eighth lane is still screwed though

−4

mikey_the_kid t1_iu4h1w4 wrote

At championship levels there are speakers behind each set of blocks and the signal is electronic.

19