How do place judges decide the finishing order?

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Accepted Answer

Place judges determine the official placings when hand timing or gate timing is used. With a photo finish system they may be used only as back-up for system failure. A Chief Judge is appointed and allocates place judges for all placings. Enough judges must be appointed for the number of athletes entered. Each judge decides the order in which athletes finish, and writes down the lane number of the athlete they are placing without taking their eyes off the finishers. Judges act independently and do not discuss placings. Athletes are placed in the order in which any part of the torso (not the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line. With hand timing and manual place judging, finishing posts should be painted white, at least 1.5m high, and placed 20cm from the inside and outside edge of the track at the finish line. The Chief Judge ensures all athletes have been placed before telling the athletes their placing, and tells the Chief Timekeeper or gate timing operator when all judges are ready for the next event. Judges may reconsider an original decision made in error. If a Referee or the Jury of Appeal has since decided, they refer all available information to the Referee.