Olympic Dreams May Literally Come Down to Coin Flip for Two US Sprinters

Training for the Olympics is a veritable lifelong process. Many of the athletes start preparing when they're just children — or compete when they are actually still children — spending countless hours seven days a week conditioning their bodies to meet the demands of their sport, giving up normal lives for the shot at a a fleeting moment of glory on top of the podium.

And for two United States sprinters, their lifelong Olympic dreams could come down to a literal coin toss.

On Saturday, U.S. Track & Field team held its final race to determine which three women would represent their country in the 100-meter sprint. Carmelita Jeter and Tianna Madison finished in the top two spots, securing their trip to London next month. However, runners Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh actually tied for third place. Even high-speed cameras recording 3,000 frames pers second could not determine which one crossed the finish line first.

So, USATF has the following plan: ask each woman what she would rather do, flip a coin or run another race to see who goes to London. If they choose the same that decision will stand, but if they disagree about which tiebreaker to go with, the two will run another race. If they each refuse to pick, a coin flip will be used.

U.S. Track & Field has even gone so far as to determine just how the coin will be flipped. "The USATF representative shall bend his or her index finger at a 90-degree angle to his or her thumb, allowing the coin to rest on his or her thumb," the body wrote in a new rule.

The tie situation is already being called a debacle by some, but for Felix and Tarmoh, it's likely just agony.

Picture via Wikipedia