Are there any statistics about the historical occurrence of DNFs in track
and field? (leaving aside rabbits)
Is it my imagination, or are they on the increase? The comment "I knew I
wasn't going to win (or move on to the final), so why bother?" seems to have
come up more frequently in the past few years. This is often couched in the
'why-bother-risking-(further)-injury' concept. If DNFs are on the increase,
does it say something about a change in psychology among athletes or in the
culture of (professional) athletics? Or sports in general. Or 'society' in
general (though it would be interesting to see if there are cross-cultural
differences in the rate of bailing a race).
Sandra
