Was sprinters 'dive' to win gold legal or ethical?

[Zaac]

Agreed. It is time that track and field change rules to read that to win, the runner must cross the line standing up! This runner was not the first to dive in order to win a race! In fact several Americans have used this same method in order to win in past Olympics! I think with all the cyber chatter, the IOC may in fact see that it is time for a change in the rules! Let's hope this is the case!

Nope. Yall are going in the opposite direction. It took them a few decades to get to the torso ruling. They won't be going back to a need to be standing .

The IOC doesn't make the rules. The IAAF does. And rule 164 says:

the athletes shall be placed in the order in which any part of their bodies (i.e. torso, as distinguished from the head, neck, arms, legs, hands or feet) reaches the vertical plane of the nearer edge of the finish line as defined above.

It's the torso which runs from about the shoulder to the hips. People used to dive and stretch their hands across the line and were deemed the winner. The torso rule did away with that.