Why penalty awards need a rethink

I recently interviewed pro triathlete India Lee, who was awarded a penalty for drafting at the 2022 Ironman 70.3 World Champs.

As India explained, the award of a 5min penalty has knock-on effects – not just for the race, but potentially the athlete’s career.

While home favourite Sam Long’s hotly-disputed drafting penalty took most of the focus in St George, India’s own blue card – also caught on camera – was equally harsh and underscores the problem with such punitive calls.

What happened to India Lee in St George?

India was placed second in a five-woman pace line, holding the gap as close to 12m as she could to prevent going into the Canadian Paula Findlay‘s draft zone. The only athlete up the road at that point was eventual winner Taylor Knibb – so the race was on.

Approaching a hill, another British athlete, Holly Lawrence, attempted an audacious overtake from the back of the line. If all the women ahead are spaced at 12m it meant Lawrence would have to overtake the entire line without slotting in or she’d receive a drafting penalty.

But as she drew level with Lee, Lawrence seemed to run out of gas and the allotted 25secs for each pass was running out.

Two elements were now in play. Lawrence can’t slot in unless there’s a 12m gap to Findlay, or she risks a drafting penalty. But as soon as Lawrence’s front wheel edges ahead of India, India has to drop back or can receive a blocking penalty.

Is India just under or just over 12m behind Findlay? It’s an impossibly tight call for the naked eye, especially with a constantly changing picture.

Why penalties need to be lessened

The upshot was the referee gave India the blocking penalty, which looked a misreading of the situation. A stern command for either Lawrence to make haste or Lee to drop would have been better.

Five minutes in a 70.3 – the same sanction as over the full distance – is a race-ruining call for something so subjective.

This is not to condone foul play, but the penalty needs to fit the offence. Until technology comes in to solve the problem once and for all, the referees should be encouraged to communicate more and the penalty needs to be lessened.

• New device launched to eliminate drafting in Ironman events

Top image credit: Patrick McDermott/Getty Images for Ironman

Tim Heming Freelance triathlon journalist

About

Experienced sportswriter and journalist, Tim is a specialist in endurance sport and has been filing features for 220 for a decade. Since 2014 he has also written a monthly column tackling the divisive issues in swim, bike and run from doping to governance, Olympic selection to pro prize money and more. Over this time he has interviewed hundreds of paratriathletes and triathletes from those starting out in the sport with inspiring tales to share to multiple Olympic gold medal winners explaining how they achieved their success. As well as contributing to 220, Tim has written on triathlon for publications throughout the world, including The Times, The Telegraph and the tabloid press in the UK.