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Mental_Cut8290 t1_iu54u0q wrote

Reply to comment by JuzoItami 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

The whole idea seems like circular garbage.

>We all need to start at the same time, so lend her a noise or a light to signal the start.

>Well now we need to react to the start, which means everyone will have a slightly different delay.

>You've got to anticipate the start, so you can start as close to the start as possible.

>Well someone starting exactly at the start could be a sign of cheating, so the real start has to be 0.1s after the start.

And really, how would you even cheat that??? You get a notification 3/10 of a second before and then perfectly react 3/10 of a second later to be exact with the start?

The whole thing is stupid. You have to anticipate, and you have to risk disqualifying yourself for an early start, and 0.099s after the start is still AFTER the start.

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