# Olympics question **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 16, 2016, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024 "2016-08-16T23:10:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/21 "2016-08-17T11:47:39Z")
I’m truly dumbfounded by how many people saw that as an intended dive, rather than a stumble. This is something that I see happen at least once a month in the NFL - a player makes a long run, becomes immediately fatigued, and they stumble and face plant before the end zone. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/22 "2016-08-17T12:08:27Z")
> [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](#): > > I’m truly dumbfounded by how many people saw that as an intended dive, rather than a stumble. You think she just happened to stumble on the one exact step where falling took her across the finish line to win a gold medal by seven one-hundredths of a second? ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/23 "2016-08-17T12:15:23Z")
I do. If there was actually something to gain by diving, it would occur with regularity. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 12:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/24 "2016-08-17T12:31:37Z")
To add, I speak from experience. While it may have been some decades, I was a competetive runner from grammar school through college, have run hundreds of races, and have seen thousands. The number of times that I’ve seen a runner dive I can count on one hand. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 1:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/25 "2016-08-17T13:01:05Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > You think she just happened to stumble on the one exact step where falling took her across the finish line to win a gold medal by seven one-hundredths of a second? Given that that’s the step where runners thrust their torsos forward in an exaggerated manner, it seems like that is the step they would indeed be likeliest to stumble on. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [August 17, 2016, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/26 "2016-08-17T18:02:55Z")
I predict that this Japanese pole vaulter (huh, huh, I said “pole”) will be wearing a jockstrap in competition in the future. > **[Olympic dream crushed by penis](https://www.news.com.au/sport/olympics/japanese-pole-vaulters-olympic-dream-crushed-by-his-own-penis/news-story/a7e70dcbd46300b7ab0f4fef16f2fbef)** > > NEVER before has a member of the male species wished for a smaller manhood. Until now. TL : DW - As he was going over the bar, his midsection grazed the bar and pulled Mr. Happy up, which then proceeded to knock the bar off its supports. :smack: :o ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/27 "2016-08-18T01:21:37Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > Given that that’s the step where runners thrust their torsos forward in an exaggerated manner, it seems like that is the step they would indeed be likeliest to stumble on. Curious. I read or heard, I believe, five accounts of this race from three countries, and I understood none of them to suggest that it was not an intentional (if perhaps unconscious) act. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_other_jeffrey_lebowski/32/215_2.png) [@The\_Other\_Jeffrey\_Lebowski](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Other_Jeffrey_Lebowski)\ **Post date:** [August 18, 2016, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/28 "2016-08-18T01:50:37Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > Curious. I read or heard, I believe, five accounts of this race from three countries, and I understood none of them to suggest that it was not an intentional (if perhaps unconscious) act. Could you express that without the double negative? What did these accounts opine? ---
**Author:** ![davidmich](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e56c9b/32.png) [@davidmich](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidmich)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024/29 "2016-08-22T09:31:03Z")
> [@davidmich](#): > > Hi > > Diving across a finish line rather than sprinting across is allowed. Why is this allowed? > I look forward to your feedback. > [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkICia0y-jU](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GkICia0y-jU) Thank you all. Very helpful [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/olympics-question/763024.md?page=1)