SAFP -Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce- FINALLY talks about why she pulled out of the Olympic 100 semi - “I was probably having a panic attack"

LAC Quelle - good club. Nico Motchebon, Florian Schwarthoff used to run for them. Gustav-Schickedanz sportfeld - great track, the forest right by the track even better. Bust out a workout, stop at the Gasthof for a Cola-Weizen before the drive home.

Back to SAFP, I completely believe this - especially because you got a key detail right which is that at these massive events with so many access points, they can't and don't unfortunately have security scanners at every entry point. So as you said, a bus with athletes on it can go through that particular point because to even get on the bus at the village, they go through security scanning to just get on in the first place. The other thing? Stuff like this happens all the time. One day a security guard with no clue get's asked by an athlete if they can go through "here" - they say "guess so" and next minute it becomes a thoroughfare when it shouldn't. Eventually some supervisor finds out and the next day it's back to the security level it should be.

Maybe SAFP was wrong place wrong time. But with 3 hours to spare, an extra couple of hundred meters walking should be manageable for an Olympic track athlete.

She didn't want to run - and honestly I don't think it was any more sinister that just knowing she wasn't going to medal because of age and fitness and not being able to accept that.

I wonder why she'd been feeling this way. A cursory glance shows an disclosed family emergency and a slew of injuries, but I wonder if there's a lot more going on. That being said, it's incredible she's still going at it at 38. She really doesn't have anything left to prove (except maybe that she's not on the sauce, but proving innocence in the court of popular opinion on this board is pretty much impossible).

“The last two years have been very difficult. The most painful. I felt abandoned, lost. I couldn't express myself to anyone. I went through so much grief and sadness."

Maybe she didn't wat her bag checked by security. That wouldn't be a nice way to go out.

"Olympic Legend caught trying to smuggle Performance Enhancing Drugs into stadium."

Put simply, she was being a spoiled diva

Hook it to my veins.

They need to find the security guard and get a comment fast.

They need to make a movie of this, particularly with the poor stooge who bounced her as hero of the day.

It is Epic.

One of the most recognisable faces in the sport approaches and Deputy Dog explains the door is closed and would she mind going 120m around the corner to another gate where she would be well looked after

"No way, I am a prime athlete, every little expenditure of energy lessons my chance of success"

She then proceeds to Bollock him for a full 60mins because that is less energy wastage than a 120m walk presumably.

Meanwhile our hero gets on the walkie to his boss "Can I let SAFP I'm Boss", the answer "Non, whatever you do Pierre you must hold the gate"

Then a few buses full of athletes show up and he has the balls to wave them through.

Absolutely Box office stuff.

Salvitore Stitchmo is spot on.

Having coached at the Olympics, Worlds, Europeans, Olympic Trials, NCAA's, etc. this is exactly what happens. Big events spread out over multiple days with hundreds of volunteers and temporary security service workers and hundreds of athletes, coaches and support personal coming and going all day between lodging, warm-up tracks and the stadium or start areas (marathon, race walk). Every set-up is a bit different and that has to be factored into your pre-race preparation. The same thing goes with knowing and following the check-in and call room procedures and factoring it into your warm-up, etc. That is part of the job. It's not a local all-comers meet or Turkey Trot where you just show up and step on the starting line.

Also if you are an athlete then the bottom line is ADAPT with travel situations, pre-race, eating, weather, etc. Read this story about Jamaican hurdler Hansle Parchment almost missing his semi-final at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics:

katc.com

Gold medal-winning hurdler tracks down woman who helped him get to race after getting on wrong bus

https://www.katc.com/kyle-hicks

A track and field athlete from Jamaica got the chance to thank a stranger who proved to be instrumental in him earning a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics last week.

Open link

Bottom line...SAFP did not want to compete that day. Could have been physical, mental or emotional, but it wasn't because of having to walk 120m to another entrance gate. That is a convenient excuse for the media to give the public who wasn't there.

Someone locked Miruts Yifter in the bathroom before his 5000m final in Munich.

britannica.com

Miruts Yifter: Yifter the Shifter | Ethiopian Runner, Olympic Gold, 10,000m Race | Britannica

Distance runner Miruts Yifter, a captain in the Ethiopian air force, became as famous for his quirks and setbacks as he did for his tenacity and victories. His introduction to the international track-and-field scene came at a...

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How often we forget that athletics is about the athletes.

Not the fans, not the sponsors, not the announcers, not the hanger-ons.

If an athlete tells "security" that she is going through a door, the job of the security is to move heaven and earth to open the door.