Why was Michael Roth disqualified in 400m at AAC Track and Field Championships? All you need to know about the Canadian's shock elimination

Michael Roth, an Ontario native from Canada, was disqualified from the Men's 400m sprint at the American Athletic Conference Outdoor Championships (AAC Championships) on Sunday after he finished first in the event. Owing to this disqualification, the 22-year-old also lost his personal best record in the 400m sprint discipline.

Roth produced a staggering performance, registering a run time of 45.78 seconds in the 400m discipline. With this, the Canadian track and field athlete bettered his previous best of 45.82 seconds, which he had registered at the National Stadium of Costa Rico during the NACUC U18 and U23 Championships.

However, his hand gesture on the verge of reaching the finish line cost him the AAC 400m Men's title. Just as he was about to cross the finish line, he turned around and showed thumbs down to his competitors behind. The organizing committee of the AAC called this act unsportsmanlike, citing various debates for the pundits in the track and field circuit.

This would have been Roth's first accolade in the 400m discipline but fate had other plans. His previous best finish was seventh, which he savored at the Moi International Sports Centre in Kenya during the 2021 U20 World Championships.

Besides the 400m discipline, Roth also participated in the Men's 200m sprint in which he ended in the seventh position after touching the finish line in 23.67 seconds.

Michael Roth's disqualification cost the University of Texas at San Antonio

Michael Roth was one of the major track and field athletes for University of Texas at San Antonio (UTSA) going into the tournament on Sunday, especially the men's 400m and 4*400m relay events. However, Roth's disqualification changed the entire scenario for the university as well as for the Canadian sprinter himself.

Owing to this disqualification, the university was stripped of a major track title at the multi-collegiate tournament. Michael Roth's setback allowed two University of South Florida track and field athletes, namely Tre'Sean Bouie and Shevioe Reid, to respectively clinch the first and second positions at the podium with run times of 46.07 and 46.48.

Following this unprofessional conduct, Roth was also left out of the 4*400m relay team for which the UTSA had to pay a heavy price. Without its best track and field campaigner, the university which was one of the top-performing relay teams in its conference, finished fourth on Sunday.

UTSA's team represented by Martin Kouyoumdjian, Noah Rhodes, AJ Tyler, and Nabil Tezkratt managed a run time of 3:12.13, falling behind the likes of South Florida (3:07.74), Charlotte (3:07.74), and North Texas (3:11.48).