1 night of drinking wont hurt, know an Athlete who won The Gold Medal in 2 Olympics and is considered the Greatest ever in his Sport, He drinks 1 or 2 beers a week.
There is literally no way he did not think there was a chance he was running unless they specifically told him that. He said he was in 45 hurdle shape and he's run the anchor for the past few years successfully - what did he expect?
I'm sure he didn't think the team was in the final but that he wasn't on it. He thought the US team had been eliminated. The situation that resulted in the runoff was extremely unusual. (Not the ugly handoff - it happens - I mean that the protest succeeded.) Everybody thought the US had been eliminated. Including him I guess.
There is literally no way he did not think there was a chance he was running unless they specifically told him that. He said he was in 45 hurdle shape and he's run the anchor for the past few years successfully - what did he expect?
I'm sure he didn't think the team was in the final but that he wasn't on it. He thought the US team had been eliminated. The situation that resulted in the runoff was extremely unusual. (Not the ugly handoff - it happens - I mean that the protest succeeded.) Everybody thought the US had been eliminated. Including him I guess.
This is simply inexcusable - somewhat on his part, but mostly on the part od USATF and the coaches! How was it that he was ever NOT considered to be a top four choice for the relay? How is it that USATeam coaches had not communicated clearly to anyone and everyone who was a potential relay runner? The ONLY reason that any USA team member - athlete, coach staff - was in Tokyo was to have athletes perform at their best and ideally win medals! This was not a "party Trip!" on US taxpayer and USATf member donation's money! His 'late night" may have shown in the last 5-10m
This is simply inexcusable - somewhat on his part, but mostly on the part od USATF and the coaches! How was it that he was ever NOT considered to be a top four choice for the relay? How is it that USATeam coaches had not communicated clearly to anyone and everyone who was a potential relay runner? The ONLY reason that any USA team member - athlete, coach staff - was in Tokyo was to have athletes perform at their best and ideally win medals! This was not a "party Trip!" on US taxpayer and USATf member donation's money! His 'late night" may have shown in the last 5-10m
Agreed. Inexcusable. Really disappointed in hearing this
I think blaming the coaches’ communication is BS. There is no way he didn’t know there was at least A CHANCE their petition would lead to them having a chance to run. Even if it’s a 1% chance it’s not off the table, sounds like he took a gamble and said I want to party let’s hope we don’t make it in. Now here’s where it gets dicey, if you’re Rai or you’re the coach, and you know this man is hungover and low on sleep- do you have him run, or do you have one of the other guys who now have an extra race from the re run in their legs give it a shot? I think his split was obviously not as good as what he would have run if he went home and went to bed,BUT probably on par with what what of the 4 from the prelims would have run in his place. It’s a shame, but the gold means more to Botswana and that’s obvious.
Nah, Botswana's team was just better. Consider the fact that they did win gold and bronze in the 400 singles and that the US' best man got 7th. Of course this discounts Rai who didn't participate in the 400. But moreover, three of Botswana's final four had ran the 400 relay heats the day before the final (none of the Americans did). This fatigue more than outweighs that Rai "had a late night out".
That doesn't really get at the issue. Which is that regardless of pedigree the US had a sizable lead after 3 laps and would have won if Rai had delivered a good -- not great, just good -- anchor leg. He did not. This loss is on him.
In the post-race interview after the 4x400 final, Rai Benjamin said he had a late night out last night and wasn't even aware he was running the 4x400 until the morning of the final.
Was the team not made aware a protest was ongoing for the US team to be reinstated? Was Rai told he wasn't in the final lineup, and then they changed the lineup after the guys from the heats had to run twice? Or did Rai just drop the ball and not take his role seriously?
They only lost by hundredths so this might have been the decision-maker.
The biggest question is really why on earth would ever say this in a mixed zone interview or any interview for that matter? How f-ing tone deaf are you dude? Was this some kind of attempt at making an excuse - like "well if I didn't have a big one last night and knew what was going on we would have won this, but yeah" that then made him seem like a total tool?
I just don't get this comment on any level whatsoever.
Completely unprofessional, arrogant, and - most importantly - completely disrespectful to his teammates. He got caught by two guys in the final 40 meters and looked like he was lacking just that little bit of extra juice a good sleep gives you. If I'm the USA I'd never put him on a relay again.
There is literally no way he did not think there was a chance he was running unless they specifically told him that. He said he was in 45 hurdle shape and he's run the anchor for the past few years successfully - what did he expect?
Exactly. Seemingly selfish and unprofessional on his part.
Fans need to remember that it’s just not that deep. It may mean a lot to you to beat the rival team or keep looking at the medal count but the athletes in the arena are not fans. Rai’s mistake was over sharing.
There is literally no way he did not think there was a chance he was running unless they specifically told him that. He said he was in 45 hurdle shape and he's run the anchor for the past few years successfully - what did he expect?
He probably thought it would come off as a valid, cool sounding excuse for losing, Mr. Party and all. But it doesn’t come off thet way. He’s a dope.
That’s part of it. But he was also trying to cover for the embarrasment of being run down in the stretch. He got his arse whipped and can’t handle it in honest fashion.
In the post-race interview after the 4x400 final, Rai Benjamin said he had a late night out last night and wasn't even aware he was running the 4x400 until the morning of the final.
Was the team not made aware a protest was ongoing for the US team to be reinstated? Was Rai told he wasn't in the final lineup, and then they changed the lineup after the guys from the heats had to run twice? Or did Rai just drop the ball and not take his role seriously?
They only lost by hundredths so this might have been the decision-maker.
The biggest question is really why on earth would ever say this in a mixed zone interview or any interview for that matter? How f-ing tone deaf are you dude? Was this some kind of attempt at making an excuse - like "well if I didn't have a big one last night and knew what was going on we would have won this, but yeah" that then made him seem like a total tool?
I just don't get this comment on any level whatsoever.
Certainly seemed as a bit on in insult to his teammates to mention this in that forum...
Someone mentioned that the US coaches first appeal regarding Zambia's interference was rejected. Was that the case before Kenya's appeal, or were both appeals rejected? Could it be that Kenya's appeal added veritas to the US case, and resulted in that 10:45 pm reversal? One last question, did anyone ask the other members of the relay squad (8) when they were informed of the reversal and runoff? Obviously, the relay coaches first priority would be to make sure the "runoff four" knew they had a race during the morning session.
Okay, I have worked within the USATF sphere before, and there communication is absolutely pathetic. I give more grace to Rai. He left the track the night before thinking that the team had been eliminated as just about everyone else did. He went out on the town and never received a call differently. The final decision to accept the appeal and place the team in the re-run was made somewhere close to 11:00pm local time. As all of you know, you can do a lot of partying by 11:00pm if you want. As Rai said he did not know anything differently until the next morning. Who should have called him? So all of the fools from USATF that spent our money to go over and have a good time - none of them called to tell EVERYONE involved (all the 400 meter people). If Rai did not know until the following morning and I take him at his word then that is one the relay coach, USATF, and to some extent Rai's coach. Again, as someone who has worked within USATF in the past I was always shocked at the poor communication in the USATF group. I could provide you examples and you would all shake your heads and laugh. They are a bunch of of clowns and there have been many, many posts on this site about that.
Okay, I have worked within the USATF sphere before, and there communication is absolutely pathetic. I give more grace to Rai. He left the track the night before thinking that the team had been eliminated as just about everyone else did. He went out on the town and never received a call differently. The final decision to accept the appeal and place the team in the re-run was made somewhere close to 11:00pm local time. As all of you know, you can do a lot of partying by 11:00pm if you want. As Rai said he did not know anything differently until the next morning. Who should have called him? So all of the fools from USATF that spent our money to go over and have a good time - none of them called to tell EVERYONE involved (all the 400 meter people). If Rai did not know until the following morning and I take him at his word then that is one the relay coach, USATF, and to some extent Rai's coach. Again, as someone who has worked within USATF in the past I was always shocked at the poor communication in the USATF group. I could provide you examples and you would all shake your heads and laugh. They are a bunch of of clowns and there have been many, many posts on this site about that.
I think you are probably 100% right on that.
The USATF as everyone knows is just a garden bed of weeds that keep sustaining themselves and making sure no "flowers" ever find space to root and grow - no different to any god awful corporate really.
But as true as what you said might be, Rai just shouldn't be airing that out. What comes of? Either he makes himself look unprofessional (because not everyone has this context you are giving above), it looks like he is selling out his national body and teammates, or it looks like he is arrogantly dismissing their opponents on the track. So it's a complete loss situation for him, which based on the sentiment of the comments in this thread, validates that.