Eugene, OR - UC Riverside's
Brenda Martinez advanced to the finals of the 800m at the 2009 USA Track and Field Championships Friday evening after finishing fourth in her semifinal heat with a time of 2:04.85. However her spot in the finals was not assured until some two hours following the completion of the race due to a controversial decision made by meet organizers. (
watch the race)
In order to advance to the 800m finals, participants in the semifinals needed to finish in the top four in their respective heat ... or so they all thought. As it turned out, meet organizers altered those rules earlier in the day so that only the first three finishers in each heat would advance along with the next two fastest times regardless of heat.
There was only one problem: nobody bothered to tell the event participants about the change.
Martinez, thinking she needed to finish fourth to advance, did just that. Under the new guidelines, however, fourth place wasn't good enough.
UC Riverside Director of Track & Field and Cross Country immediately lodged a protest, and some two hours after Martinez crossed the finish line, meet organizers apologized for the confusion and her spot in the finals was granted. Given that they had already announced the eight-person field for the finals, Martinez actually becomes the ninth participant in the event.
Although
the semifinal results on the official championship website still list Martinez as being on the outside looking in,
the start list for Sunday's final does indeed include her name.
The finals are scheduled for 1:44 pm on Sunday and will be shown live on NBC.