Dead heat

The use of the photo finish, first introduced in horse racing in second quarter of the 20th century, notably decreased the number of dead heats.

[10] If a dead heat is declared, all tied competitors are considered to have jointly achieved the superior position (unless a tie-breaking method is used to separate them).

For example, in the final of the Women's 100 metre freestyle at the 2016 Summer Olympics, Penny Oleksiak and Simone Manuel finished in a dead heat for first place.

[14] Complications can occur if the reward cannot be divided or duplicated: at the Women's 100 meters at the 2012 United States Olympic Track Trials, Jeneba Tarmoh and Allyson Felix finished in a dead heat for the third and final place in the US Olympic team, with there being no provision in the rules to resolve the situation (a head-to-head run-off was proposed, but Tarmoh eventually conceded the place).

[16] This rule resulted in Héctor Faubel winning the 125cc classification of the 2011 German motorcycle Grand Prix after a photo finish could not separate him and Johann Zarco.

[17] Special provision is made for dead heats in the rules of sports betting: punters' stakes are divided proportionally by the number of tied competitors.