On Aug. 25 the JAAF announced that it has reversed 29-year-old sprinter Fuga Sato's disqualification in the July 6 National Championships men's 400 m final, giving him the national title for the second time in his career. It is unusual for official results to be amended after the end of the competition. According to the JAAF, there was a discrepancy in officials' interpretation of World Athletics rules in disqualifying Sato. The reversal elevated Sato in the final update to World Athletics' rankings following the Aug. 24 Tokyo World Athletics Championships qualification deadline, moving him up from outside the quota to 46th of 48 qualified athletes. He is now expected to be named to his third-straight World Championships team.
The events in question were part of the National Track and Field Championships, which doubled this year as the main selection event for the Tokyo World Championships. Sato finished 1st in the men's 400 m final on July 6 but was ruled to have stepped inside the lane to his left on the final curve and was disqualified. 0.01 behind him in 2nd, Kenki Imaizumi, 23, was initially named national champion. But following the JAAF's reversal of the decision almost two months later Imaizumi was stripped of his title, which was awarded to Sato along with the points necessary for him to be in a position to be named to the national team.
The JAAF stated that there had been a discrepancy in how officials had interpreted the rules. The rules state that an athlete must stay within their assigned lane from start to finish without crossing the inside line on curves. When running a curve, if an athlete's left foot touches the inside line twice or completely crosses it once the athlete is to be disqualified, but touching the line once is not grounds for disqualification.
On the day of the competition the JAAF disqualified Sato for stepping inside the line. But following an inquiry from Sato's sponsor Mizuno a month and a half later, the JAAF re-examined the facts and determined that the procedures for submitting documents to the jury of appeal had not been adequately observed. Based on this they opted to re-examine the disqualification.
During the re-examination the referee revised the reason for the disqualification to "two steps inside the inside line" and upheld the decision, but the jury overturned this ruling and reversed Sato's disqualification. After consulting with World Athletics the JAAF determined that "If there is a moment when the entire foot in contact with the ground is across the line, the athlete will be disqualified" was an incorrect interpretation, and that the correct interpretation is "If the heel is on the line during the entire moment of contact then the athlete is not considered to have crossed the line."
Thanks to the additional points gained by being awarded the national title Sato moved up from being ranked 50th, outside the range of eligibility to compete at the World Championships, to 46th, just inside the limit of 48. It looks likely that Sato will now compete in his third-straight World Championships, but with less than a month until the Championships kick off there are concerns about the impact on his preparations.
The JAAF plans to introduce two new measures to prevent this situation from happening again. First, they will encourage a more thorough understanding of the rules by holding regular training and study sessions for referees and officials to make sure that they are familiar with both the rules and current interpretation of them based on international standards. Second, if there are multiple reasons for disqualification the JAAF will seek to ensure that all of them are communicated to the athlete in question, and to introduce a system in which it is possible for the athlete to appeal each of them.
Timeline of Sato's Disqualification and Its Reversal
Translator's note: The source article omits Sato's attempts at a spot in the Worlds quota at competitions between his July 6 disqualification and Mizuno's Aug. 19 contact with the JAAF. They have been added below.
July 6: Sato disqualified for lane infringement after initially winning B-ranked National Championships 400 m in 45.28.
July 13: Sato finishes 4th in 45.50 at B-ranked Edmonton Athletics Invitational in Canada.
Aug. 3: Sato finishes 2nd in 45.16 at F-ranked Fuji Hokuroku World Trial in Japan, his fastest performance of the year.
Aug. 19: Sato's main sponsor Mizuno contacts JAAF regarding his disqualification over 6 weeks earlier, prompting JAAF to investigate.
Aug. 20: The JAAF found that "stepping 2 steps inside the line" had not been specified during the initial protest procedure and notified Mizuno that it would accept a new protest. Sato finishes 2nd at the Twilight Games meet in Yokohama in 45.67, his slowest performance in a final this year.
Aug. 21: Mizuno submitted a new protest, but the chief referee upheld the initial disqualification decision that Sato had taken "2 steps inside the line."
Aug. 22: The jury of appeal deliberated and overturned the chief referee's ruling that Sato had been disqualified for taking "2 steps inside the line."
Aug. 23: Despite protest from other competitors over the decision, the chief referee did not seek to reverse the overturning of the disqualification, a move upheld by the jury. Following the ruling, the change to the results was submitted to World Athletics.
Aug. 24: On the final day of qualification for the Tokyo World Athletics Championships the official change to the National Championships results was confirmed on the World Athletics website.
Aug. 25: The change in results was publicly announced.
Translator's note: Following Sato's elevation into the 400 m quota the Netherlands' Eugene Omalla, winner of the B-ranked P-T-S meeting on Aug. 8 in 45.28, was left as the top athlete outside the quota, the position Sato had occupied prior to the JAAF's reversal of his disqualification at Nationals.
source article:
translated and edited by Brett Larner
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