‘Nothing I can do’ – Devon Allen reacts to controversial 110m hurdles disqualification at World Championship
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Updated 18/07/2022 at 12:14 GMT
Devon Allen is set for a return back to American Football, after signing for NFL side Philadelphia Eagles in April. The wide receiver put a career in the sport on the backburner as he wanted to pursue his dream of competing in the Olympics. He will begin pre-season training with the Philadelphia Eagles on July 26.
'I'm a quick reactor' - Allen upset at false start DQ by one thousandth of a second
Devon Allen expressed his frustration after being disqualified from the men’s 110m hurdles at the World Athletics Championships, and was surprised to see a red card in his lane.
Allen's reaction time was marginally faster than the one-second allowance - a controversial decision which has sparked outrage.
"I know I'm a quick reactor. That's why I was so surprised,” he said in quotes via PA.
“I know I didn't go before I heard the gun. Like I said, one one-thousandth, it's so close. If it was five-tenths then ‘okay, yeah, Devon you suck’.
"Initially, I didn't think I had false started, I thought they were just going to bring it back maybe because Grant goes into the set a little bit later than normal.
“It was a quick gun so I thought he would have maybe gone into set still and they would have just brought it back. That's why I was so surprised when they had a red card in my lane. Overall, it’s just frustrating. There's nothing really I can do.
“My family is here, I'll get to hang out with them and enjoy them. I've got about 10 days until training camp so I'll get ready for that."
Grant Holloway of the USA won the race with a time of 13.03, repeating the success from his title in the 2019 World Championships.
Allen earned an automatic qualification spot for the final after finishing second in his semi-final, which took place earlier in the day on Sunday.
The 27-year-old is a three-time US national champion and a two-time Olympian after reaching the 110m hurdles at the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro and Tokyo.
However, he is yet to translate this success to the World Championships after failing to finish higher than seventh.
Allen is set for a return back to American Football, after signing for NFL side Philadelphia Eagles in April.
He has not played football since 2016, when Allen played at College level for the University of Oregon.
But the wide receiver put a career in the sport on the backburner as he wanted to pursue his dream of competing in the Olympics.
He will begin training the Eagles on July 26, but Allen is unsure whether he’ll be able to take his mind away from this disappointment, commenting: "I don't know if that's the case."
Allen also did not rule out the possibility of competing at next year’s championships in Budapest, and added: "We'll see, yeah."
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