Sydney McLaughlin to double in DL Final - an event she's not eligible for - Update: DL will not let her run

Rules like this are stupid. Getting the top athletes to turn up to big events and regularly is already hard enough. If she will only do one a year then change the rules. We need her more than she needs us. I want to see all the Hairy Armpit records battered into communist archaeology.

Abandoning stupid rules without due process is Godly.

Diminishing the meaning and importance of the DL "final"

If they want athletes to compete more they need more prize money. Or you stop handing out millions to the winners in sponsorship and go full Greed is Good.

Million dollar challenges etc. The Nike 100m series. Top heavy with huge money to the winners.

This fake amateur nonsense really has to die a huge death. They are making millions anyway, make it more prize money based and use it to sell the sport. All the sports that shine make their winners filthy rich and celebrate it.

How much dosh is Seb "we need to keep some of the amateur ideals" Coe on again? Should be a crime against humanity that admin make more than champions.

Well, the rule says: To be eligible and considered for a Global Wild Card athletes must: "be placed...in the top 20 of the overall World Rankings." Is it possible the two times she has run this year (200: 22.07; 400: 48.75), as times go, are within the top 20 times run this season?

I could see the Diamond League looking for a way to let these times count.

This isn't true. The people attending the Memorial Van Damme for sure know who she is, no matter what country they're coming from.

And idk why Rojo and Gault are complaining when the LRC homepage has it right with this statement:
When You Are As Good As SML - The Rules Don't Apply

She is such a transcendent athlete, I don't think there's any way this could set a bad precedent. If you are demolishing world records on the reg, it is only good for the sport that you be allowed if not invited to compete anywhere, anytime you want.

There would only be a valid criticism if there was someone else on SML's level who wasn't being afforded the same leeway.

There are two sets of criteria listed in their rule and, unless there's more to it, the rule doesn't say that BOTH sets have to be met. She certainly qualifies as the both the WR holder and the Olympic champion.

Stupid short termist decision to let her compete.

Tiny benefit to her being there to completely undermine your own competition when she's just signed on to a 'rival' that will stop her competing at yours in the future. Especially because she's literally competing in the same format (two races over two days in different events) as an advert and test case for MJs new meet.

Isn't this what Mu did last year when she won the final in Eugene? They just didn't give her the trophy. you are acting like it's never been done before.

Rules are for everyone else! The 1996 Olympics changed their 200/400 schedule for one athlete.

As a track fan would you rather they blocked her from competing?

You say it's stupid but if their stupidity benefits the sport then what's the problem?

The more Sydney runs the better

It's different. Mu was a national wild card, not a global wild card. There was no stipulation that a national wild card had to have competed in a DL meet that year.

A global wild card is what Jakob Ingebrigtsen got to compete in the 3k last year at the DL final. In that case, the DL made a mid-season change to its rules to create the "global wild card" as a way to get stars like Ingebrigtsen to compete. The difference here is that Ingebrigtsen had actually run DL events that year, but in different events. SML has done no DL events.

Do I think the DL made the right call here by allowing SML to compete? Yes. If Bobby Kersee came out and told everyone that SML wanted to run the 200/400 double in Brussels and the DL blocked her, it would have been a big story and the DL would have looked terrible. It's good that she is running Brussels.

But what is the point in even having this rule if you're not going to enforce it in a situation like this? The whole idea behind the rule is to make sure athletes don't blow off the entire season and just show up for the final. And now someone who blew off the entire season is being allowed to run the final.

I feel like we had the same discussion last year with Mu getting a start in Eugene - the only loophole I could possibly think of might be some kind of "addition of a national athlete in the event of a withdrawal/need to fill a lane" scenario. Clearly that is not the case with SML in Brussels.

The represents an interesting scenario - it's clearly good for the sport and WA that one of it's best athletes (could make a case for the best) is running in it's showcase event for the season and nobody can dispute this. But, and there is always a but - your point is about as accurate as possible.

I personally think it sets a sh-tty precedent. If Sydney has so much $$$ she is not incentivized to even show up for one DL meet that meets a criteria laid out in a rule - then why should she be allowed to collect a fat check for this meet (because you know that's exactly what this is - she will be getting upwards of 100k from Gevaert for this just for showing up + whatever she wins). And this isn't like the 800m upwards (linking back to Mu) where adding in an additional body doesn't stop your top 8-14 (whatever it is for the 800m up) athletes from starting. She will be taking up a lane from 2 athletes that flew around the world, scratching and clawing to get points just to make this final and the chance to even make $1000 for finishing last in one of those events.

This

The DL said specifically last year that both sets must be met:

diamondleague.com

Explainer: Wild cards in the WDL Final

As well as picking up points throughout the season, athletes can also qualify for the Wanda Diamond League Final via national and global wildcards.

Open link

"A global wildcard athlete must have competed in at least one Diamond League meeting in the course of the season, and must fulfill at least one of the following criteria in their chosen discipline:

- World record holder

- Reigning world Olympic, or Diamond League champion

- Top 5 in the World Athletics rankings of their event

- top 20 in the overall World Athletics rankings"

Key word is "AND"

I am not a lawyer but it is interesting that the rule has two points and does not specify if it is an "and" or an "or." I suspect they will say it is implicitly "or" and she meets one of the two points.

Yeah doesn't seem too unreasonable that if you want the privilege of a start in the meet that you support at least one other meeting in the series which technically contributes to eligibility for that particular meeting to begin with.

What is interesting is that she won't be eligible for the "full prize $$$" (whatever that means, that is super ambiguous) so can only imagine the appearance fee here is huge.

Btw this is precisely why this "final" format sucks and is ultimately stupid. Go back to the old Golden League format - that way meet directors can pay for whoever they want and aren't bound by any criteria etc that causes these situations. Brussels should be allowed to have her in the meet if they can (apparently) afford her - but under this "governing league" setup she really (and by the rules clearly) shouldn't be there. The DL needs a revamp.

Ugh - except it does?

"A global wild card athlete must have competed in at least one Diamond League meeting in the course of the season, and must fulfil at least one of the following criteria in their chosen discipline:"

That's copy pasted from the DL website.

She is not either of these things in the 400m or 200m