¶2019 mWC SP: Joe Kovacs (US) 75-2 (22.91) (WL)

[26mi235]

In general, I would expect that the measured distance in to grass will be shorter than on a pretty hard surface because the trailing edge will cut the grass but not hard pan. My guess is that this effect is about 5 mm but that comes from drawing a rough picture in my mind (I am assuming that the shot lands at about a 45 degree angle - smaller launch angle but lunched from 2 meters elevation).

[18.99s]

I am sure Mr. Kovacs would not be thrilled if his 22.91 was ruled effectively the same as a 22.90 (because someone believes that statistically they are too close together and measuring imprecise to determine a significant difference) and lost because his 2nd throw did not measure up to Crouser's.

In tennis the players don't get upset by 6-5 not winning a set. They know the rules about what the margin has to be to win a set.

The shot putters understand that 1 or 2 cm is within the margin of measurement error. If the established rule before the competition were that you had to beat somebody by 3 or 5 cm to avoid a tie, they'd accept that. Or you could report the distances by rounding down to the nearest 5 cm, although that still has the occasional problem of two throws close to the rounding interval (e.g. 22.89 vs. 22.90 where the 22.89 is rounded down to 22.85).

[lonewolf]

Bottom line: We can measure an estimated/elusive/undeterminable distance with great precision.

[smj]

I think we've been over this ground before wrt timing. Just because your watch will read thousandths or your tape millimeters does not mean those are meaningful distinctions.

[gh]

from the latest AI newsletter:

<<We knew at the World men’s shot put result was close, but Shaun Pickering writes that the official marks from the EDM system showed that just 4mm separated the top three: Kovacs 22.911, Walsh 22.908 and Crouser 22.907! Shawn says “When you consider that the EDM relies upon a stake be-ing placed vertically in the ground at the rearmost mark in the ground, by a guy running in from the side of the sector, you can see that we may have an issue here with $60,000 at stake for the winner! ....>>

[Conor Dary]

About an 1/8th of an inch to win....And 1/25th of an inch separating 2nd and 3rd.....yeah I could see where that could be a problem....basically it was a tie....such accuracy is silly...

[Atticus]

such accuracy is silly...

and it doesn't even exist, but we like having a winner, so we wink and carry on.

[Powell]

About an 1/8th of an inch to win....And 1/25th of an inch separating 2nd and 3rd.....yeah I could see where that could be a problem....basically it was a tie....such accuracy is silly...

But we don't actually report results to 1mm, so these exact differences are irrelevant.

[lonewolf]

I don't see a problem here. Just measure to lesser cm and resort to next best throw(s) for placement.
When a official rushes to a blurry spot on the grass and jabs the reflector pin somewhere in the impact crater, only God knows if the marker got it right. By a grand coincidence, sometimes the measurements are identical.

[Conor Dary]

But we don't actually report results to 1mm, so these exact differences are irrelevant.

That was my point...completely meaningless...