The false start⁴⁹

Once in India I was using the starting blocks in a race. When you use the blocks your foot has to touch the ground. You cannot put your foot on the block unless it is also touching the ground. I was 100 percent sure that my foot was touching the ground, so I was surprised when the official gave me a false start. He said my left foot was not touching the ground.

The official felt sorry for me but he couldn’t tell me what I was supposed to do. He could tell by looking that my left foot was not touching the ground, but he couldn’t say anything to correct it. So I took a standing start, which is useless. Even then I won the 200-metre dash. Then afterwards he saw me on the street and said, “I feel very sorry about your timing.”

I said, “I was first.”

He said, “That is true, but if you had started from the crouching position, your timing would have been better.”