As a hammer thrower and shot putter, Safiya has a lot of experience measuring her throws before officials have even marked them.  At the statewide high school track championships, Safiya’s latest hammer throw is marked at a record-breaking distance in her state, a distance that would automatically qualify her for the final. Safiya knows that this distance is not only unbelievable, but that the officials have not measured it correctly – giving her an extra ten meters on her actual throw.

Discussion questions:

Should Safiya alert the officials to the mistake?

Would it make a difference if this was not the championship or the distance of the throw wasn’t a record-breaker?

What if other’s throws were measured incorrectly?

Is it unfair to the other competitor’s or just Safiya’s luck?

Would you encourage Safiya to notify the officials is she was your teammate?

Would your coaches encourage you to alert the officials? How would they feel if you did?

How important is breaking records?

What would you do?