There was drama at the Belgrade 2022 indoor World Championship on Sunday March 20,when Briton David King entered the 60-metre hurdles final by the rare draw system.
After all heats were done there was one slot left with two athletes tying, David King (Britain) and Shusei Nomoto (Japan).
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Nomoto finished third in his heat while King finished at a same position in another heat, both athletes recording a time of 7.57 seconds.
This resulted in the search for a tie breaker which according to the regulations require a draw to be done to determine the winner.
Both athletes' numbers were written down and placed in a black bag. A lady looking the other way picked up a number with the Briton getting a place in the final.
After the draw both athletes embraced each other, evidently King being happier than Nomoto with the draw being concluded just an hour and a half before the final.
American Grant Holloway finished at pole position with a time of 7.39 seconds followed by France’s Pascal Martinot-Lagarde (7.50) and coming third was fellow American Jarret Eaton (7.53). King finished in position six with a time of 7.62.
The last time such happened was in 1995, in the men’s 60m semi-final in Barcelona as British athlete Michael Rosswess and German Marc Blume both clocked 6.619s.
The athlete who went to the final was Blume after it was determined through a toss coin later to finish fifth in the final.
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