Having now seen the way the rule is worded, it's hard to see how you could interpret it any way OTHER THAN 'athletes can no longer allow themselves to be "pulled" out of the blocks by a false-starting runner next to them. They will be DQ'd ALONG WITH the runner next to them'.
Did U.S. team staff provide an incorrect interpretation to American sprinters, or are American sprinters so used to operating under "American false start rules" that they refuse to believe what the new rule says? It sounds pretty clear to me. And it is also becoming more and more clear why if most sprinters in the world are following this rule, and being careful to not be 'drawn out of the blocks' by a competitor, we have seen drastically slower times on the GP circuit this year. I personally have no problem with that, as long we can live with existing records staying on the books for a long time. RT
