Proposal 28: qualification and final rounds slow races [ Revision 10 ]
Committee: TrackSubmitted on 2019-04-27
Status: Passed on May 25, 2019
Background
The current rulebook (3B.6.4.3/3B6.5) says every rider doing more than 45s in forward and more than 40s in backward is automatically qualified for finals. The level of the slow riders is way higher than some years ago and the result would be finals taking hours.
For track races it is defined in Chapter 2B.7 that "for each final, the number of finalists will be eight, unless for an event that uses lanes, the number of usable lanes is less than eight". As slow races are part of track events (even if it is mentioned in "track other") only the 8 best ones should be qualified.
Previous achieve results should not be valid anymore because we don't want an expert round but a final round with the current best riders. Every rider must go through qualification round and the best ones are qualified for the finals.
Proposal
Old Rule
3B.6.4 Slow Forward
In Slow Forward, the rider rides in a continuous forward motion as slowly as possible without stopping, going backward, hopping or twisting more than 45 degrees to either side on a 10 m x 15 cm board. (If Age Groups are ranked, optionally a 10 m x 30 cm board for Age Group 0-10 may be used.) There are no crank arm length or wheel size restrictions for this event. Riders must wear shoes. No other safety gear is required.
B.6.4.1 Timing
The position of the unicycle during a Slow Race is measured from the bottom of the unicycle wheel. In a Slow Race, the rider starts behind the starting line. On command by the starter, the rider has 10 seconds to start forward motion and let go off the starting post. The timer starts recording time when the bottom of the wheel crosses the starting line. The time stops when the bottom of the wheel crosses the finish line, or touches the ground after the end of the board that marks the finish line.
3B.6.4.2 Optional Penalty Rules
Optionally, a host can decide to use a system wherein the judges may give penalties to riders who seem to make “micro-errors” or if the judges are in doubt whether an error was made. Examples of micro-errors are twisting about 46 or 48 degrees, or vibrations of the wheel. Each penalty deducts one second from the ridden time. Riders are still disqualified for clear errors, such as riding off the board, dismounting or twisting 90 degrees. Using these penalty rules is especially discouraged for possible errors for which a reliable objective detection system is being used.
3B.6.4.3 Qualification and Final rounds, Age Group ranking
At any competition, the host may decide not to offer Age Group ranking and awards. Qualification and Final rounds are always required, and results from both count for Age Group ranking (if Age Groups are ranked), but previous results from other competitions are not valid to be included in Age Group results.
Qualification round:
•For Unicon, riders must complete a time equal or greater than 45 seconds to move on to the finals. For other competitions than Unicon, the host may adjust the qualification time to a lower time as needed.
•Riders get two attempts to complete this result.
•Previous results are valid: If a rider has already completed a result of 45 seconds or greater at another competition, they can start automatically in the finals and they don’t have to take part in the qualification round, provided that the result can be found in an official result list.
•The boards can be marked with tape on the floor.
•If judged by eye (as opposed to by an objective technical means), results from the qualification round will not be valid for records (world, continental, national and regional records).
Final round:
•All riders who are qualified for the final round start here.
•In order to have a fair competition, there will be a single team of judges, or (insofar available) an accurate and reliable technical means to check adherence to the rules.
•Riders get two attempts.
•Results from the finals will be valid for records (world, continental, national and regional records), regardless of whether they are judged by eye or by a technical means.
•The champion is the rider who performs the best result in the final round.
Results of both the Preliminary and the Final Rounds will be published.
3B.6.5 Slow Backward
This is the same as the Slow Forward race, with the following differences in italic:
•Riders ride backward.
•It is an error to ride forward.
•Riders ride on a 10 m x 30cm board. (If Age Groups are ranked, optionally a 10m x 60cm board for Age Group 0-10 may be used.)
•For Unicon, riders move on to the finals if they have completed a time equal or greater than 40seconds.
New Rule
3B.6.4 Slow Balance Forward
In Slow Balance Forward, the rider rides a distance of 10 meters in a continuous forward motion as slowly as possible without stopping, going backward, hopping or twisting more than 45 degrees to either side. Any age group with riders of 11 years or older must use a board of 15 cm wide. Any age group with no riders of 11 years or older must use a board of 30 cm wide at Unicon; in other conventions the host may choose to use either a 15 cm wide board or a 30 cm wide board for this age group. Tires may overlap the edges of the board, but if the tire contacts the ground next to the board, that would be the end of that attempt. There are no crank arm length or wheel size restrictions for this event. Riders must wear shoes. No other safety gear is required.
3B.6.4.1 Timing
The position of the unicycle during Slow Balance is defined by the tire contact point. In Slow Balance, the rider starts behind the starting line. On command by the starter, the rider has 10 seconds to start forward motion and let go off the starting post. The timer starts recording time when the tire contact point crosses the starting line. At this moment, the rider may not be in contact with the starting post anymore. Timers must watch the hands and the feet/wheel at the same time at that moment. The time stops when the tire contact point crosses the finish line.
3B.6.4.2 Optional Penalty Rules
At any bigger conventions where there is a large pool of judges (such as Unicon) it is recommended that the host uses a system wherein the judges may give penalties to riders who seem to make “micro-errors” or if the judges are in doubt whether an error was made. Examples of micro-errors are twisting about 46 or 48 degrees, or vibrations of the wheel. Each penalty subtracts one second from the ridden time. Riders are still disqualified for clear errors, such as riding off the board, dismounting or twisting 90 degrees. Using these penalty rules is especially discouraged for possible errors for which a reliable objective detection system is being used.
3B.6.4.3 Age Groups and Final rounds
Age Groups and Final rounds are always required.
Age Groups:
•All riders must participate in the Age Groups. Riders get two attempts.
•The best 8 female and the best 8 male riders qualify for the finals.
•For Unicon a minimum of 20 seconds is required to achieve a valid result. For any age group with no riders of 11 years or older the minimum time is 15 seconds. Riders who don’t reach this threshold are automatically DQ. If your net time after penalties brings you below the minimum time, you are also DQ. For other competitions than Unicon, the host may adjust the threshold to a lower time or have no threshold at all.
Final round:
• The Judging team for the Finals must consist of a single group of people that watch every rider, or (insofar available) an accurate and reliable technical means to check adherence to the rules.
•Riders get two attempts.
•The champion is the rider who performs the best result in the final round.
3B.6.5 Slow Balance Backward
This is the same as the Slow Balance Forward, with the following differences in italic:
•Riders ride backward.
•It is an error to ride forward.
•For Unicon a minimum of 15 seconds is required to achieve a valid result. For any age group with no riders of 11 years or older the minimum time is 10 seconds.
•Any age group with riders of 11 years or older must use a board of 30 cm wide. Any age group with no riders of 11 years or older must use a board of 60 cm wide at Unicon; in other conventions the host may choose to use either a 30 cm wide board or a 60 cm wide board for this age group.
Body
see discussion 67
References
see discussion #67
Discussion
View DiscussionChange Log:
- Revision 10 changed by Mirjam Lips (12 May 23:55)
Addedthe point about tire overlap and recommended penalty rules
- Revision 9 changed by Klaas Bil (10 May 09:38)
Removed two superfluous sentences from the third bullet of 3B.6.5.
Set the time values (seconds) in the third bullet, and the width values (cm) in the fourth bullet, in italics.
Removed some empty lines to make the proposal optically more compact.- Revision 8 changed by Mirjam Lips (10 May 01:26)
Finalised
- Revision 7 changed by Mirjam Lips (10 May 00:30)
Finalized everything
- Revision 6 changed by Mirjam Lips (10 May 00:09)
finalised everything
- Revision 5 changed by Mirjam Lips (07 May 14:39)
changed everything into slow balance
- Revision 4 changed by Mirjam Lips (01 May 13:02)
board width changed for backwards (typing error)
- Revision 3 changed by Mirjam Lips (01 May 11:36)
changed points discussed in discussion 67
- Revision 2 changed by Mirjam Lips (01 May 11:35)
Changed the points discussed in discussion 67.
- Revision 1 changed by Mirjam Lips (27 Apr 14:29)
Votes on this proposal:
9 out of 10 voting members have voted.
Agree: 8, Disagree: 1, Abstain: 0.