If only she was an LHC member

[littlenvy]

.... she would have known better. Allways protect your ends by putting them in an updo!

http://ca.sports.yahoo.com/olympics/blog/fourth_place_medal/post/Belarusian-long-jumper-loses-meet-because-of-her?urn=oly-wp639

Still, I feel very sad for her. To lose by such strange ruling seems very unfair.

[leslissocool]

That's so lame, I feel bad for her!

[racrane]

That's terrible! Poor girl.

[arcane]

I feel bad for her, but competeing at that level, she would have known that the fist mark is the mark they use. Maybe it was an oversight on her part, but I bet she'll now always wear it in a bun. Hopefully she still has lots of time left in her career, and can go to the campionships again.

[Signe]

Bureaucracy is so stupid it makes me sick.

[kamikaze hair]

god, and here i was whining earlier thinking i should have worn my hair up in a bun to work.... poor thing. If it had been a body part she could control like her arm or leg then yeah i could understand but hair is hair, it would have made sense to measure from her head, not her hair. (if you ask me, then again, i guess she will NEVER EVER WEAR A PONYTAIL TO A COMPETITION AGAIN)

[didrash]

This is not the irst time either. The same happened to a russian gymnast in the 80's. It really is ridiculous...

[Becky Safari]

I don't think that hair should count. It's too varied from person to person.

[Ishje]

ohh...that sucks bad time 0.o I feel bad for her...

[Chromis]

I will bet she will never make that mistake again!

They count based on any body part. If a hand was behind her body, that also would have counted against her. I am surprised she would not have put her hair up!

[CarpeDM]

That's CRAZY!!

[AcornMystic]

"pfft....next thing you know, they'll penalize athletes if an eyelashe or pube falls out mid-jump, Lol"

Some of the comments on that thing. XD

When I first read the article and saw the picture I was quite outraged at the rediculousness, but if that is the rule and she is world-class then she should have known because the other girl had enough sense/knowledge to do so. Theres no sense in doing your hair up if you're going to let it flap around in the breeze or get caught in things etc.. (like a pony-tail would do). She may as well have just left it down while doing the sport.

Still, poor girl. A lesson learned and an example to all other athletes where hair counts. She'll have extra tight buns/french braids etc.. in the future, I guarantee you that.

[UltraBella]

What in the world was she thinking ?? I feel badly for her but a rule is a rule. If it was a fingernail that touched first it would definitely count, so why not hair ?

[pepperminttea]

I feel so badly for her, it seems such a needlessly nit-picky decision. I can't help wondering if they'd do the same thing if it had been a man's ponytail. Fingers crossed she'll wear her hair in a bun next time and blow her previous record out of the water. :)

[swearnsue]

The rule about hair touching the ground as counting as a "land" is just another way to discriminate against women. At any other time "it's just hair" is the rule of the day.

[gretchen_hair]

I agree that rules are rules. If they say that they count the farthest mark in the sand/dirt, then that is the rules. When it comes to competitive sports and Olympics, they have Iron Clad rules for a reason. If they start sliding and saying....well.....it was the hair that touched, we will let that slide and count the other mark....it could get really tricky.

I think that I would have my hair in a bun, in a cage, under a swim cap, wrapped in a scarf and then sealed in cellophane, if I knew that any mark on the surface would count.

Anyone that competes at these levels knows the rules and regulations and needs to make sure that nothing can go wrong. It was a costly and life altering mistake on her part, but rules are rules. I imagine if someone had a prosthetic limb or eye or a wig, and it flew off and landed farther back, that would be the mark that would be counted as well.

It sucks for her. But what can she do under the circumstances? I don't think it has anything to do with discrimination, the regulation say that they will count ANY mark and they count the mark farthest back, so they are just doing what they are required to do. I am sure the judges felt bad too, but they have to uphold the decisions that are made and go by the rulebook.

There was a golfer awhile back who lost a huge sum of money because he realized he had one too many golf clubs in his bag, no one noticed but him and it was his caddy that put the club in and he didn't know it. he alerted the judges and he lost the money and it went to the other guy. But the regulations stated that you can only have X amount of clubs in your bag, not....it's ok if the caddy messed up. He was really honest to admit the mistake. That took a lot of gumption. But the athletes KNOW these rules when they compete so there is no room for error or excuses.

[McFearless]

She didn't lose because of her hair. Instead they measured by where her poinytail touched the ground but had to recalculate. And it turns out she was behind the other girl. Did I misunderstand? Still very disappointing.

[dRummie]

^No, they took the ponytail mark, but later realized that if they hadn't, she would have been 3 inches ahead of the winner. They still had to count the ponytail, though.

I don't think it was a nitpicky decision - they take the first mark on the ground. The photo is not used for the scoring. The mark was there, and debating whether it was made by the appropriate bodypart and trying to use a pretty fuzzy photograph to decide where the correct mark would be... that would be nitpicking.

Too bad for the girl, though. I'm a bit surprised they didn't notice something like that in training, but then I don't know much about the sport.

[HereIGrowAgain]

I'd bet it made her stomach drop, and she'll feel pretty bad about it for a long time.... But, rules are rules, and I have a hard time imagining that you'd get to world-level competitions without knowing all of them.

Also, I read the article as saying she would have won by 3 inches, had her ponytail not hit the ground.

[MandyBeth]

I feel so badly for her, it seems such a needlessly nit-picky decision. I can't help wondering if they'd do the same thing if it had been a man's ponytail. Fingers crossed she'll wear her hair in a bun next time and blow her previous record out of the water. :)


The rule about hair touching the ground as counting as a "land" is just another way to discriminate against women. At any other time "it's just hair" is the rule of the day.
If a man did long jump with a ponytail loose and the ends marked the ground first, they'd use that mark. It's a pretty standard rule actually, learned in HS track and field. And yes, we had a guy in our division (went to a different school) who jumped with loose long hair, it touched behind him, it counted as the mark to use.

The rule that the first mark to the starting board made by the body or uniform is the mark used, no matter WHAT touches to make the mark, is taught at HS level track and field makes it pretty darn basic. The fact she's at a high level and forgot that rule is her fault and she has only herself to blame. That rule is 100+ years old, it hasn't changed. The rule was made prior to the ability to take high speed photography. You could't prove what made the mark, so the first mark to the starting board is used always for every person. Made it as fair as possible (and I say it's still fair) to every person.

[Velvet Dreamer]

Ohh, I feel so sorry for her.
You would think that her coaches would tell her to put her hair up, just in case something like that did happen, though.

[Rocket22]

I feel bad for her too, but honestly she should have known better. Most the time when you are in an athletic situation you would want your hair out of the way especially in something that important:confused:

[jamesw]

That's sad. She should have won.

[Lostsoule77]

That really sucks, but rules are rules! I can't believe that a world class athlete, her trainer, or anyone else on her team, didn't realize the bad potential. It is a shame, but she should've known better and I bet she'll never make that mistake again!

[PurusNox]

Wow, that really sucks. Well at least she knows inside that she should have won and that's all the matters.......but the gold medal and money would have been nice xD