yolland
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- Aug 27, 2004
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Which is pretty much how I'd characterize the race in question, which you can find on YouTube (although, head and limb position are irrelevant to the judging, and you can't really "tip" your own breast ). Engquist (who won the gold) had a terrible, sloppy start to make up for, and even her trademark breakaway sprint in the final stretch wasn't going to be quite enough to pull ahead of Bukovec (the silver), so in the end it was Engquist's slightly more aggressive lean that won it for her (the "lean" is the sprinting technique where, just as you hit your final stride before crossing the line, you throw your arms back and hike your rear leg up parallel to the ground, propelling the leading edge of your torso--from the base of the neck to the breasts--across the line, which done just right can shave maybe a hundredth of a second off your time). If you watch it on video, it's quite clear that the entire leading edge of Engquist's torso, not just her boobs, passed over the line first as a result of her more aggressive lean. Bukovec had better form during the race as a whole, no question, and she had a commanding lead for most of it too, but she simply didn't lean as hard as Engquist did as they pulled even just before the line. That's strategy, not luck.Or, with a bit more skill or desire, she might've run a little faster or been a little smarter as she crossed the finish line and tipped her head or breasts or fingertips across the line.
And this is a swimming thread, not a running thread, so I'll shut up now.