What Happened to Starting Races With Real Pistols?  Image
credit:  Getty Images  When Usain Bolt, Wallace Spearmon and the
rest of the field line up for today's 200-meter race, they'll
kick off the race not at the fire of a pistol, but a noise
triggered by an electronic gun. Did previous Games use actual
pistols?  Yes, but they've been scrapped for both safety and
fairness. The guns were obviously firing blanks and were often
rigged to blow off a puff of smoke so everyone could see. Some
of the guns were even sealed shut and would just make a loud
bang. In an interview on the BBC radio comedy program "The Now
Show," official Olympics starter Alan Bell said he's even used a
pistol with bullets stuffed with toilet paper.  (Yes, the
Olympics do use an official starter. Bell, a former high jumper
who had to retire after an Achilles injury, acts as the chairman
of the International Association of Athletics Federations
International Starters Panel and made headlines earlier this
year for disqualifying Usain Bolt at