Churandy Martina finished second to Crawford but was disqualified for running out his lane. Crawford explained “[I]f a guy is 10 meters in front of me, I don’t care if he stayed in the middle of his lane, … He was going to beat me anyway. He didn’t impede in anybody’s race.”It turns out that the disqualification came because the U.S. committee filed a protest against Martina after another U.S. sprinter was disqualified for the same violation. Yet, for Crawford a no harm, no foul sensibility is in play. Perhaps he is downplaying the justice or right thing perspective as a way to highlight that it is the right thing.
American officials studied video of the race and then filed a protest against Martina for the same error. Martina and his Netherland Antilles team have appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, arguing that the protest was filed too late under rules set by the International Association of Athletics Federations.
