Pistorius advances to finals after ruling.

[El Supremo]

LONDON (AP) — Oscar Pistorius and his South African teammates are moving on to the 4x400-meter relay final at the Olympics without even finishing the heats.

The double amputee will get a chance to run for an Olympic medal after track officials awarded an extra spot in the final following a successful protest by South Africa.

In the opening round Thursday, a Kenyan runner collided with South Africa's Ofentse Mogawane as he made his way around the final bend in the second leg of the race. Mogawane fell and clutched at his left shoulder as the baton rolled away.

Set to run next in the relay, Pistorius stared at the scene in disbelief. He put his hands on his head and began walking off the track, figuring his time in London was done....

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/08/09/oscar-pistorius-appeal-relay-south-africa_n_1759546.html

Watch the video about the controversy. I still don't like it.

[mathematic]

1. That's a fairly standard remedy in track

Nixon Chepseba, 1500m runner for kenya, was advanced from the prelims to the semis after it was ruled he was tripped. He didn't even fall, but it was enough to mess him up for the last lap.

With distance races, it's usually not a big deal since they don't run in lanes. They just shove another runner in at the start line. In this case, there is the extra unused lane.

[RockaFowler]

2. I wonder why that didn't work for Mary Decker Slaney in 2004

I remember that trip from Zola Budd (I think that was her name). She was running barefoot

[joeybee12]

3. Afterwards, they ruled Decker had interfered with Budd...

You just couldn't see it at the angle of the camera, but after review, it was Decker-Slaney who was at fault.

[mathematic]

4. That was the final

And yes, she got ripped off bad thanks to a sketchy Zola Budd.

[bluedigger]

5. 1984.

My cross country coach in high school left my senior year to work for Nike (1978 or so) and soon became Mary Decker's personal coach. He was a good coach.

[El Supremo]

6. His team finished last of the finishers

1
BAH Bahamas
2:56.72 NR
2
USA United States
2:57.05 SB
3
TRI Trinidad and Tobago
2:59.40 NR
4
GBR Great Britain
2:59.53 SB
5
RUS Russia
3:00.09
6
BEL Belgium
3:01.83
7
VEN Venezuela
3:02.18
8
RSA South Africa
3:03.46 SB

CUB Cuba
DNF