My initial reaction after watching was one of extreme disappointment. Instantly I thought, “Damn the current false start rule.” But as I’ve thought about it over the day, it is the current rule and has been for a a little while now. In sports, a rule is a rule. This is not a subjective matter either: You’re out if you move before the gun goes off. The winner of the race is the guy who gets to the line first, provided that he starts at some point after the gun. That’s that. This isn’t like American Football where there are various degrees of pass interference, holding, and unnecessary roughness. This is cut and dry. While it’s extremely unfortunate that the fastest human in the world’s history did not race, he did get a chance, and he himself messed that up. I am not happy that Bolt got DQ’d; I feel for any athlete who has put in the time and work to be at the top of their game. But I am happy to see that the officials of track and field gave no special treatment to an athlete – even one who is the fastest man in the world. While some may say that this is a low point for the sport, I’ve found the silver lining (at least for myself) in that the rules of competition were put ahead of an individual. If the fallout of today’s event results in a change in the rule, I fear that one could interpret it as an athlete being put ahead of the sport. Today’s 100m final was not created simply for Usain Bolt; it was created to pit the world’s 8 fastest men against each other in a race. Bolt qualified and therefore had a chance to win. He false started and was disqualified on a clear-cut rule. The men lined up again. Yohan Blake won the race and is the 2011 World Champion in the 100m.