Crashed and Burned? Dorniden Out of 800m

Team USA Minnesota's Heather Dorniden was tripped and fell with 200 meters to go in last night's 800m prelims. You can watch the race -- and the crash -- on the Flotrack video above.

Team USA Minnesota officials have told Down the Backstretch that they filed a protest in an effort to advance Dorniden, the 3rd-place finisher at the USA Indoor Championships, to today's 800m semifinal. The protest was denied due to the contact being incidental, according to Team USA Minnesota.

The ruling appears to break from the precedents set in the last two USA Outdoor Championships in the very same event. At the 2008 Olympic Trials, four additional runners were advanced to the women's 800m finals after a pile-up involving some of the favorites in one of the semifinals.

Last year, an additional runner was added to the women's 800m final as well.