What counts as a false start?

The penalty for a false start is immediate disqualification.

Since the 2024 rewrite (Rules 5-7-4c, d Note and 8-4-4 Note 2), a runner false starts if they:

• leave their mark with a hand or foot after the "set" command, or
• move forward before the starting device fires.

Incidental or extraneous movement that doesn't cause anyone to leave their mark is not automatically a false start. If such movement makes the start unfair, the starter can cancel the start or recall the race instead.

A "rolling start" (forward motion before the signal that isn't stopped and carries the runner off the mark as the gun fires) is still a false start.

Distance races: if a runner falls because of contact with another competitor in the first 50 meters, the race is recalled (Rules 3-6-3, 5-7-6). This changed from 100 meters in 2025.

Coaches can't protest whether a start was fair and legal.