Uniform/jewelry police - the pain

[Altor]

I am a track and field official. And let me tell you, being the uniform and jewelry police is the worst part of the job, especially if you don't catch it before the event starts.

We all know, FED rules on jewelry are pretty much the same across all sports...Don't wear it. The trouble is, there isn't a good penalty in track to cover such a minor infraction. In football, you might mark off penalty yards. In basketball, a technical foul might be in order. (I don't know...the rulebook may allow for a warning and instruction to take it off in those sports first.) In track, there really is no penalty other than disqualification from the event. It's crappy, but that is the rule. That's why our association makes it a point to remind all athletes before an event begins to take off all jewelry. As somebody said on another board (baseball?) a couple days ago, "If you weren't born with it, it's jewelry."

And no, you don't disqualify her or have her team forfeit previous meets because of her admission, just like you wouldn't go back and award missed free throws days after a basketball game is completed. Protests for misapplication of the rules must be filed within 30 minutes of completion of the event.