On Devon Allen’s Disqualification at the 2022 World Track and Field Championships

Owen Fiore, Elizabeth D. Schifano and Jun Yan

The American Statistician, 2025, vol. 79, issue 4, 500-507

Abstract: Devon Allen’s disqualification at the men’s 110-meter hurdle final at the 2022 World Track and Field Championships, due to a reaction time (RT) of 0.099 sec—just 0.001 sec below the allowable threshold—sparked widespread debate over the fairness and validity of RT rules. This study investigates two key issues: variations in timing systems and the justification for the 0.1-sec disqualification threshold. We pooled RT data from men’s 110-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash, as well as women’s 100-meter hurdles and 100-meter dash, spanning national and international competitions. Using a rank-sum test for clustered data, we compared RTs across multiple competitions, while a generalized Gamma model with random effects for venue and heat was applied to evaluate the threshold. Our analyses reveal significant differences in RTs between the 2022 World Championships and other competitions, suggesting systematic variations in timing systems. Additionally, the model shows that RTs below 0.1 sec, though rare, are physiologically plausible. These findings highlight important variation sources in evaluating the 0.1-sec disqualification threshold to promote fairness in elite competition.

Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1080/00031305.2025.2515869

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