The U.S. Olympic Committee was forced to create new rules in order to solve the dilemma of who will claim the third and final spot in the women’s 100-meter dash.
Sprinters Allyson Felix and Jeneba Tarmoh came flying across the finish line at the exact same time down to the thousandths of a second, finishing with a time of 11.068 seconds.
According to CNN, there was no precedent for an occurrence like this, forcing the U.S. Olympic Committee to announce new rules Sunday.
One of the runners can decide to give up the opportunity to represent her country, but that is unlikely. If neither sprinter decided to concede the spot to her fellow American, then they will have two options: either run a tie-breaking race or flip a coin. If they are unable to come up with a mutual agreement they have to race for it. In the strange event that both athletes refuse to declare a preference, U.S. officials will flip a coin.
No official date has been announced for the tie-breaker, as both women have other races to run this week.
