Usain Bolt's shock dethroning as world 100-meter champion after a false start took a further, remarkable twist Monday with claims it was gold-medalist Yohan Blake who had made the first movement ahead of the gun.
A packed stadium in Daegu, South Korea, was stunned into silence in the seconds after Bolt emerged too early from his blocks in Sunday's World Championships final to be disqualified. Distraught, he tore off his shirt and held his head in disbelief.
The defending world champion and world record holder was a victim of a rule in effect since Jan. 1, 2010 meaning an immediate ejection for a false start.
Yet video replays hosted on an athletics website, letsrun.com, showed Blake's left leg twitching slightly before Bolt, in the adjacent lane, moved -- which could constitute a disqualification.
In the IAAF rules, rule 162.5 states, "After the command 'On your marks' or 'Set,' if an athlete disturbs other athletes in the race through sound or otherwise, the Starter shall abort the start."
Rule 162.8 then says, "The Starter should warn or disqualify only such athlete or athletes who, in his opinion, were responsible for the false start."
Along these lines, Bolt has claims to argue he was the victim rather than the culprit.
Blake went on to power to victory in 9.92 seconds. The Jamaican, Bolt's training partner, was crowned the youngest ever world champion at 21.
Whichever athlete false-started, the merits of the zero tolerance rule in showcase finals was already being debated as soon as Bolt left the track Sunday.
The rule was seen as a way to prevent gamesmanship from potentially slower sprinters looking to unsettle their rivals and to enable organizers to stick more closely to TV-dependent schedules.
Athletics chiefs said Monday that while the profile of the athlete would not trigger the need to re-examine the rule, it was "possible" the IAAF's council could soon discuss the matter.
"It's always possible, the council has the power to change rules and meets two or three times a year, the next being here on Sunday," IAAF director of communications Nick Davies said Monday. "In extraordinary cases, the IAAF Council has the right to make interim changes to technical rules, pending official approval by IAAF Congress. There's no doubt it will be on the table."
But an IAAF spokesman earlier reiterated that the Bolt disqualification hadshowed the essential fairness of the rules as not even track and field's biggest star had been spared.
"Bolt is still running in the 200-meter and the 4x100-meter. We need to give it a little bit of time. All of these reactions are very raw," he said. "We need to give a little bit of time to reflect."
Bolt, meanwhile, attempted to put the final debacle behind him as he vowed to do his fans proud in the 200-meter.
"Firstly I would like to congratulate my teammate Yohan Blake and the other athletes who won the medals," he said Monday. "However, I have to move on now as there is no point to dwell on the past. I have a few days to refocus and get ready for the 200-meter on Friday."
He added, "After this I have the 4x100-meter and a few other races before the end of the season. I know that I am now in good shape and will focus on running well in the 200-meter."
