Australia’s Catriona Bisset has successfully launched an appeal after she fell while up towards the front of her 800m heat at the World Athletics Championships.
Bisset was leading for the majority of the race, before she was boxed in by Britain’s Keely Hodgkinson in front of her, and Italy’s Elena Bello to her right.
She tried to navigate her way to the outside for a chance to pass Hodgkinson, but the gamble didn’t pay off and she tumbled to the track, eventually finishing some 20 seconds off the pace.
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“That was likely to happen, because she went for a gap that wasn’t there,” commentator Tim Hutchings said.
It was important that Bisset picked herself up and crossed the finish line, which is a requirement for athletes who wish to lodge a complaint.
Hutchings didn’t give the Australian much chance of succeeding in her appeal, but the judges disagreed with him.
“She’s doing the sensible thing – she has to finish the race for an appeal to have any chance – but I think she went for a gap that wasn’t really there,” he said.
“Because when Hodgkinson came past her, Bello went up on to her shoulder, [Christina] Hering wasn’t going to let her out, and there was no gap for her to try and open.”
Bello’s time of 2:02.78 was a full second behind the next-slowest qualifier for the next round, but the judges ruled she was impeded by Bisset’s fall, and thus reinstated her.
A few minutes later, the Australian was also put back into the event, and will now race in the semi-finals tomorrow morning.
The other two Australians in the event, Claudia Hollingsworth and Tess Kirsopp-Cole, failed to advance after finishing 42nd and 43rd, respectively.
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