Donavan Brazier not running Trials - HUGE MISTAKE

It's January. If he runs 1:49 at NCAAs and then is a high 1:40s runner outdoors, no one will think he's stupid for not running the trials. If he runs 1:43 outdoors, there is no way he doesn't run the trials. Let things play out. What he's doing and how he approaches the sport is working, so I don't see why he should have to change it.

funny that someone makes this thread after seeing so many people hate on him here for running too hard too early.

i know this kid personally, like jesus stfu already. he's a good guy. i think running is one of the only sports that berates their upcoming stars so much and it's so annoying.

It seems he has a grounded understanding of how it all works. You don't. That's rare coming from an eighteen year old. Running the World Juniors is a worthy goal in itself.

No reply argues my point. You just cry about the point.

A mistake to not run trials? Hardly. Unless he has a chance at top 3 and an a mark, the only reason to go to trials would be to get accustomed to running that sort of meet.

If he has a shot at winning world juniors, that is a much better experience, since he gets to practice going for a win or medal in a big meet with rounds. That experience could prove much more valuable in the next world's or Olympic cycle than the experience of being in the middle of the group at trials.

If he were my athlete, I wouldn't make a decision yet before seeing how outdoors is going. But I'd probably end up sending him to world juniors rather than Olympic trials.

Very impressive to open up with 1:45. Hes been training pretty hard all fall if he ran his 1:14 600 in November. Hopefully he's got more in the tank.

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

The article mentions that he's running 20 mpw, down from 40 mpw in HS. For a guy of his caliber that's about 20 min per day of running, 6 days per week, at most. Surely they must not be counting other work he's doing.

No dog in this fight wrote:

It's January. If he runs 1:49 at NCAAs and then is a high 1:40s runner outdoors, no one will think he's stupid for not running the trials. If he runs 1:43 outdoors, there is no way he doesn't run the trials. Let things play out. What he's doing and how he approaches the sport is working, so I don't see why he should have to change it.

This is a good point. If he is running 1:43 or 1:44 though it would be a huge mistake not to run the trials. Making the Olympic team is a huge item on any runners resume and will be huge for his future earning potential. He may be going pro after just one college season. Also if he's running a second and a half or more faster in June he will be a contender to win. An American title would be huge.

His reasoning that he wants to redeem himself at world juniors just doesn't work for me. Can't he do both?

8hundo wrote:

Very impressive to open up with 1:45. Hes been training pretty hard all fall if he ran his 1:14 600 in November. Hopefully he's got more in the tank.

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

+1

Not running is just weak and wimpy. Grow the F up and take your shot, pu$$y! You will have earned it, and anything can happen.

You know who wrote:

8hundo wrote:

Very impressive to open up with 1:45. Hes been training pretty hard all fall if he ran his 1:14 600 in November. Hopefully he's got more in the tank.

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

+1

Not running is just weak and wimpy. Grow the F up and take your shot, pu$$y! You will have earned it, and anything can happen.

Yep.

8hundo wrote:

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

+1

I don't understand the line of thought in T&F that young stars should pass on the Olympics. Could anyone imagine a professional sports team qualifying for the playoffs or Champions League then forfeiting the spot because they still had room to improve? The silver and bronze medalists in the 800m in the previous olympics 800m were 17 or 18.

You guys remember how adamant Andre DeGrasse was that he would not turn pro and would return for USC, even after Beijing? Or Candace Hill same thing? This is like that. Not that he will turn pro, but that he is young and will adapt his goals as he consolidates his new level of achievement.

I believe it's much more the A&M coaches discouraging this. If he were to show up at Trials, there would be huge shoe company pressure to go pro. A&M doesn't want this until he gets some conference/NCAA points for their program!

8hundo wrote:

Very impressive to open up with 1:45. Hes been training pretty hard all fall if he ran his 1:14 600 in November. Hopefully he's got more in the tank.

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

I agree he should do it. He could learn a lot about navigating the rounds and championship racing at the pro level by going. Valuable experience to help him 4 years later.

He'll make the right decision when he proves that he is at that level outdoors. The World Junior race is corrupted in any case, because of the rampant East African age cheating. If he runs low 1:44 or 1:43 at NCAA Outdoors, I think we'll see him at US Trials and in the Olympics. He is rightly taking one step at a time and not looking ahead. As far as the mileage, it sounds like he really is not close to maximized in his training, just doing fartleks right now, but with a runner of this type, I would definitely worry that low mileage will put a ceiling on his talents after this year. This year he still gets the benefit of being more physically mature and having the aerobic development from last year, improved so far by being told to go out far more aggressively than he did last year and probably going quite fast with the 1:47 teammate on the 60 and 90 second intervals.

This is what it takes to make the USA Olympic Team over 800m -

2012

Nick Symmonds - 1:46.92 Prelim, 1:46.82 Semi, 1:43.92 Final

Khadevis Robinson- 1:47.30 Prelim, 1:45.83 Semi, 1:44.64 Final

Duane Solomon - 1:47.91 Prelim, 1:46.03 Semi, 1:44.65 Final

Remember the young prodigy Obea Moore said the rounds killed him over 400m at the Trials in '96. Big learning curve how to race and recover at that level.

8hundo wrote:

Very impressive to open up with 1:45. Hes been training pretty hard all fall if he ran his 1:14 600 in November. Hopefully he's got more in the tank.

If you qualify for the Olympic trials you HAVE TO RACE THE TRIALS. Theyre only once every 4 years. There aren't any guarantees this chance will be around in 4 years.

There are no guarantees for the trials but it is absolutely guaranteed he will not be able to race World JRs the next time around. Getting the chance to be World Jr champ is pretty big deal and by doing it this way he is giving himself a chance to do both Oly and WRJs. Its solid reasoning even if you do not agree with it.

malmo wrote:

It seems he has a grounded understanding of how it all works. You don't. That's rare coming from an eighteen year old. Running the World Juniors is a worthy goal in itself.

If he ran 1:47x, we would all still be excited and say WJrs, but he just ran an early indoors time which would rank among the fastest indoor times in the world last year...this points to Olympic Trails. No athlete who has a legit chance of making an Olympic team should ever pass up that opportunity and no one ever does. No track & field career is ever guaranteed or even future success for that matter and perhaps what he needs to do is adjust his training and mindset to peaking in July.

Reminds me of Ashley Spencer in 2012. Nation leading time, NCAA champ, opts out of the Olympic Trials to run JRS. Goes on to win the WJR title.

Now heading into 2016 she comes off of a two year stretch where she hasn't been within 1.5s of a PB.

It's definitely a tough trade off and I'll be curious to see the outcome.