Griffith Joyner set the old record of 10.
This rule led to some sprinters deliberately false-starting to gain a psychological advantage: an individual with a slower might false-start, forcing the faster starters to wait and be sure of hearing the gun for the subsequent start, thereby losing some of their advantage.
The next iteration of the rule, introduced in February 2003, meant that one false start was allowed among the field, but anyone responsible for a subsequent false start was disqualified.