At each water stop Galen Rupp chucked off his old soaked hat and grabbed a new one from his coach. Rules?

Too blind to see?

Artificial cooling equipment or devices (eg. refrigerated hat). Those are not allowed during races.

Uncle X wrote:

Uncle P wrote:

I know you hate Nike and Salazar and by extension Rupp, but this whole thread is foolish.

During the race there was a special USA section at the aid stations marked with a US flag. It section was near the end of the aid station. There was someone there holding a hat that was extended out for Rupp to grab. The person left the aid section immediately afterwards, no similar aid was given to the other two US runners.

I watched the live stream and noticed the hat exchange before the commentators. I did not notice anyone running away from the table. I think that is Nike hatred getting the better of you.

Special Treatment wrote:

Mr. Obvious wrote:

The technical committee approved it. David Katz said so.

Mr. Katz needs to provide something confirming what exactly he approved. Did he approve a special cooler? Did he approve a special aid station worker to give out the special hats only to Rupp? Did he approve use if ice or gel, which? Did he tell every other runner they were allowed to do the same as Rupp was?

Seems to me that Katz screwed up big time. Should have been specific with Salazar. Should have allowed everyone the same treatment. Salazar took advantage of Katz. Katz's error for letting that occur.

I'm sure Mr. Katz and the IAAF technical committee are extremely concerned that you don't think they did the right thing. I'm sure they will be right back with you on anything you require to approve of their actions...

And what's the point of the Nike ice vest stuff, if an athlete wants to wear one before an event so what, they might want to immerse themselves in a 44 gallon drum of iced water, or wear a fur coat, or go round the back for a knee trembler to get the blood flowing, so friggin what, nothing to with friggin hats during the race.

What is known is this:

During the race there was a special USA section at the aid stations marked with a US flag. It section was near the end of the aid station. There was someone there holding a hat that was extended out for Rupp to grab. The person left the aid section immediately afterwards, no similar aid was given to the other two US runners.

Go find the uninterrupted BBC video feed of the race and you will see the above happen a few times. Many of the hat exchanges were not caught on video. But there is indeed an individual who managed the hats only for Rupp. No identical treatment offered to hold out a fluids bottle, etc, to Ward or Meb. The individual ran off immediately after Rupp took the hats.

So friggin what. wrote:

And what's the point of the Nike ice vest stuff, if an athlete wants to wear one before an event so what, they might want to immerse themselves in a 44 gallon drum of iced water, or wear a fur coat, or go round the back for a knee trembler to get the blood flowing, so friggin what, nothing to with friggin hats during the race.

The hats were not worn before the race. They were obtained DURING the race.

So-called Coolers wrote:

Too blind to see?

Artificial cooling equipment or devices (eg. refrigerated hat). Those are not allowed during races.

What I am blind to is evidence that an "eg. refrigerated hat" was used during the Rio marathon and if said "eg. refrigerated hat" was used that it wasn't allowed. Perhaps you provide such evidence for us?

The inquiry was made by a team official (which is required) and approved by the Technical Delegate. Again, nothing here is new and has been done for years. But it appears that you are really more interested in insulting people and trying to find fault with an athletes superior performance

Provide a letter proving this was allowed, and under what conditions.

Thanks,

So what the friggin wrote:

So friggin what. wrote:

And what's the point of the Nike ice vest stuff, if an athlete wants to wear one before an event so what, they might want to immerse themselves in a 44 gallon drum of iced water, or wear a fur coat, or go round the back for a knee trembler to get the blood flowing, so friggin what, nothing to with friggin hats during the race.

The hats were not worn before the race. They were obtained DURING the race.

I friggin know that, so what was the point of the "Nike ice vest stuff", what am I missing here?

Uncle P wrote:

So 12 pages later we don't even know if it really was chilled, if it was kept chilled, if it needed approval, or if it got approval.

I can see why everyone is upset instead of celebrating a great accomplishment for the US. SMH....

13 and rising and turning in to a LR classic.

There was no point. The best all the people complaining about a rule that doesn't exist being broken is citing a blog post about an ultra-marathon that has nothing to do with the rules governing the Olympic Games.

At this point their argument is, "they don't allow it at Badwater so it's obviously not legal at the Olympics."

Mr. Obvious wrote:

I'm sure Mr. Katz and the IAAF technical committee are extremely concerned that you don't think they did the right thing.

You mean the fake Dr.Katz who has been posting to this thread. Not worried about the faker's opinion at all.

So friggin what. wrote:

I friggin know that, so what was the point of the "Nike ice vest stuff", what am I missing here?

ARTIFICIAL cooling devices. Not those worn pre-event. Not those worn AT THE START. Those that are replaced DURING the event.

Geez, you are dense.

Special Treatment wrote:

Provide a letter proving this was allowed, and under what conditions.

Thanks,

Can you or one of the other letter obsessed posters on here cite where in the rules/laws it states a letter must be drawn up when an official declares a piece of gear being used is permissible?

You seem to think this is the only way Rupp switching hats is ok, but is this even required?

No Point wrote:

There was no point. The best all the people complaining about a rule that doesn't exist being broken is citing a blog post about an ultra-marathon that has nothing to do with the rules governing the Olympic Games.

At this point their argument is, "they don't allow it at Badwater so it's obviously not legal at the Olympics."

You post is irrelevant.

Fairly simple technology modified and incorporated in to the hat:

"Instant ice packs do not have to be refrigerated or frozen before use. Instant ice packs contain quantities of water and ammonium nitrate, which are kept separated by interior partitions. When sufficient force is applied to break the partitions, the water and ammonium nitrate mix and begin an endothermic reaction that drains heat from its surroundings, this instantly cools the pack."

I take's me hat off to Nike and Al.

Rules wrote:

Can you or one of the other letter obsessed posters on here cite where in the rules/laws it states a letter must be drawn up when an official declares a piece of gear being used is permissible?

So, you think allowing Special Treatment is acceptable to an athlete during a race is acceptable. It doesn't work that way.

rojo wrote:

I have no problem with the hats. I have a problem with them being chilled.

Even if everyone else could do this is there is a big problem. The other teams likely had no idea it was being contemplated. So it's not like they have 15 spare hats with the logo of their sponsor lying around. It's not like they have cooling gels lying around either. It would have certainly been fairer to all if they'd said, "No, you can't do this."

Rojo, I've competed at 3 International Championships, 2 of which were above 80 degrees. I also was on the Team USA staff at last summer's PanAm Games in steamy Toronto-- helped with marathon and racewalking events. Having ice chests full of ice/ice baggies for the athletes, chilled beverages, and chilled whatever else (ice vests for example) is standard practice for all the teams. As long as they're grabbing it from a designated aid station and not elsewhere, anything is fair game.

Each team has their own staff and tables for handing off stuff-- it's usually 1 aid station every 5K (~1-2 staff members per table). It is the responsible of each team's staff to make sure everything is 'secure' and properly placed/handed off. Our teams have always taken this very seriously. The LOC usually also provides various things for cooling (beverages, sponges, rags, misters, ice baths in medical, etc.). When you do drug testing after a race, it is up to the athlete to open their own sealed beverages.