Canadian sprinter Michael Roth thought he had won his NCAA conference 400m title and came away with a huge personal best of 45.78 seconds at Sunday’s American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships in San Antonio, Texas. However, Roth was disqualified instead for showboating at the finish line.
Roth had a significant lead as he rounded the bend into the final 100m of the one-lap race. Instead of running straight through the line, he looked back at his competitor and made a hand gesture.
Michael Roth (UTSA) 🇨🇦 was disqualified after he ran a PB of 45.78s to win the AAC men’s 400m title for unsportmanlike behaviour.
The unsportmanlike behaviour:👀 pic.twitter.com/t4zL2k65Ll
— Track & Field Gazette (@TrackGazette) May 13, 2024
Roth ended up being disqualified for unsportsmanlike behaviour, resulting in him losing the conference title and his new personal best.
“Soft disqualification, but it’s alright,” Roth wrote on his Instagram story. “I still have work to do.”
The 22-year-old from St. Thomas, Ont., recently represented Team Canada in the mixed 4x400m at the World Athletics Relays in the Bahamas. If he had not been disqualified, his time would have been the second-fastest by a Canadian this year—behind Christopher Morales Williams‘ 44.05 national record from last weekend’s SEC Championships.
The disqualification also left him out of the 4x400m relay squad, in which his school, the University of Texas-San Antonio, was the top-ranked team in their respective conference. They ended up finishing fifth without their fastest runner.
