Reason Behind The Disqualification Of Great Britain's Men From Olympic 4x400m

 

Great Britain's men's 4x400m team were disqualified from their Olympic heat because Matt Hudson-Smith stepped out of the takeover zone midway through the race, it was confirmed on Saturday.

The British quartet, made up of Nigel Levine, Delano Williams, Hudson-Smith and Martyn Rooney, won their heat in an impressive time of 2:58.88secs, only to be disqualified in mysterious circumstances at the end of the race. British Athletics lodged an appeal, which was rejected after third-leg runner Hudson-Smith was adjudged by the race referee to have had part of his foot outside the takeover zone when he started running. Athletes are not permitted to begin running outside of their takeover zone.

British Athletics said in a statement on Saturday: “As part of the appeal we reviewed video footage in the 
stadium, and as provided by the BBC. The process of appeal (146.8) states if such evidence including any available video evidence is not conclusive, the decision of the referee shall be upheld. Unfortunately the video evidence was inconclusive and the appeal was rejected. We are hugely disappointed on behalf of our 4x400m team, who we are confident would have won a medal in the final.”