Justin Gatlin: Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh Should Break Tie With Mud Wrestliing Match

When sprinters Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh finished in a dead heat for third place in the 100 meter finals at the U.S. Olympic trials, it created one big mess.  USA Track and Field has no set procedure for this situation.  At stake is the third and final spot on the U.S. team for the women’s 100 meters at the London Olympics, though both will be going as part of the pool of runners for the relays and Felix will also try to qualify in the 200 meters, her signature race.  The solution boils down to a choice between a coin flip and a race between the two to determine the winner.  USATF is also letting the athletes chose the method, assuming they can agree on it.

Meanwhile, Justin Gatlin, the gold medalist in the men’s 100 meters in the 2004 Olympics who will be racing in the 100 in London, has his own solution.  Gatlin suggested on sports center that the two should mud wrestle for the final slot.

Gatlin was being silly of course, but his comment did raise a ruckus, as female athletes still struggle to gain respect in some quarters, even as we commemorate the 40th anniversary of Title IX, which prohibited discrimination based on gender in educational opportunities, perhaps most famously in girls and women’s school and collegiate sports.

Personally, we’d like Felix and Tarmoh to have a match race to decide who gets that third slot rather than a coin flip, and we have a hard time believing two world class competitors would let it come down to a coin flip.  As for Gatlin’s suggestion:  We think Allyson Felix looks just great the way she is and wouldn’t want to see her covered in mud.