Sheila Reid Olympics Situation

asdfsad wrote:

Typical Canadian qualifying bullsh*t. Send as many athletes as the IOC will allow you to send. AC bureaucrats, stop guarding your own little sad fifedoms.

You mean just like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and a whole bunch of other countries who have tougher standards than Canada?

You've gotta love the letsrun logic where equating sending a smaller team means 'guarding your own little sad fifedoms'. Because taking a bigger team would only diminish the stature of any leaders obviously.

Lots of unfair criticism of Canada here...

It's easy to be superior when you come from a big rich country like the US but we need to remember how expensive it is for developing countries like Canada, Haiti, India, etc. to send athletes to London. Remember that Canada suffered under British colonialism much longer than the US.

What do you tell the beggars in the teaming slums of Canada when they ask why they are starving but Sheila Reid gets to be a sports tourist to London where she has no chance of a medal?

When you are a poor country like Canada it makes sense to put your money into the winter sports that you are good at instead of wasting it on track & field. Instead Canada has to use its limited resources to provide clean drinking water, improve basic literacy, teach modern hygiene and sanitation, etc.

How about the UK, where they left 4 women with the A off the UK team in the 800, so that they could send 1 woman with the B, who the coach thought was more worthy? That seems stupid to me.

I prefer the American system which is entirely transparent except for the subjectivity in which B qualifiers get into the trials, which should be changed.

Make the standard and qualify at the trials, and you should go. Period.

grizz wrote:

Are Canada's stronger standards a result of cost, or based upon the philosophy that harder standards = better results?

I understand (though disagree with the idea) that some countries might not be willing to send everyone they can to the Olympics, because it could be awfully expensive just to see a lot of people go out in the first round. I don't understand the value in a policy that has harder standards than the Olympic A (as in the Canadian marathon policy- it sounds like their track standards aren't tougher than the A).

Athletics Canada's statements seem to indicate that they only want athletes that they feel have a legitimate shot at being competitive to go. So if you don't have that A+ Standard, or the A and two B's, you can only go if youre ranked top 12 in the world in your event. They would rather leave you home if they think you dont have at least an outside shot at placing. Athletics Canada would rather take 10 athletes and have 8 finish in the top 10, than take 30 athletes and have 8 finish in the top ten. Makes their numbers look better.

You tell them the USA paid for her education and her training.

asdfasd wrote:

asdfsad wrote:

Typical Canadian qualifying bullsh*t. Send as many athletes as the IOC will allow you to send. AC bureaucrats, stop guarding your own little sad fifedoms.

You mean just like the UK, Australia, New Zealand, Netherlands and a whole bunch of other countries who have tougher standards than Canada?

You've gotta love the letsrun logic where equating sending a smaller team means 'guarding your own little sad fifedoms'. Because taking a bigger team would only diminish the stature of any leaders obviously.

AC tries to send only super top athletes so that their pro rata success rate is higher (although artificial and overall produces a net loss) and therefore they get more funding from the COC as compared to other sports that bring more athletes. That is called protecting your fifedom at the expense of true success.

Thanks for playing.

Sheila is a modest hardworking young woman who has brought a lot of pride to Villanova and to Canada with her NCAA track and field and cross country championships. She let her team to two NCAA titles in addition to winning the race twice in a row. She has won titles in NCAA Outdoor Track. Anyone who denigrates her achievements or talents is probably sitting in front of the computer screen scratching their butt and eating oreos while waiting for the phone to ring.

M.C. Confusing wrote:

Athletics Canada would rather take 10 athletes and have 8 finish in the top 10, than take 30 athletes and have 8 finish in the top ten. Makes their numbers look better.

Dumb, dumb, dumb if that's their thinking.

1st, surprises do happen even if the odds are against it. Billy Mills did win the gold, etc.

2nd, most people who finish in the top 10 (get to the finals, etc.) have been there before and learned how much better they need to be, worked out the butterflies, figured out how to deal with the stress, running rounds, travel, nutrition, or whatever. They have gained experience that will help them perform better in the future. Canada is making sure that when its athletes get to the highest level they are less likely to have as much experience competing at a top international level as their competitors.

Back on topic - I hope Canada sees the light and sends Sheila Reid. She's terrific and will do Canada proud no matter where she places.

Developing countries like Canada....right !!!

Guess in Canada winnng the National Championships, running B standards and having afew NCAA wins doesnt qualify you as a Rising Star. Guess you need to be training at one of their centers with one of their coaches to get that. Great job AC youre really helping the Canada track by not sending athletes like Sheila.

NCAA Champion 1500 Meters (2011)

NCAA Champion 5000 Meters (2011)

All-American 1500 Meters (2010, 2011)

All-American 5000 Meters (2011, 2012)

Honda Award 2011

USTFCCCA National Athlete of the Year 2011

USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year 2011

Penn Relays Champion Distance Medley Relay (2012)

BIG EAST Champion 800 Meters (2010)

BIG EAST Champion 1500 Meters (2011)

BIG EAST Champion 5000 Meters (2011)

All-BIG EAST 800 Meters (2010)

All-BIG EAST 1500 Meters (2009, 2011)

All-BIG EAST 5000 Meters (2011)

All-BIG EAST 4x800 Meter Relay (2010)

BIG EAST Track Athlete of the Week April 11-17, 2011

NCAA Champion Distance Medley Relay (2011)

All-American Mile (2009)

All-American 3000 Meters (2010, 2011)

All-American Distance Medley Relay (2010, 2011)

USTFCCCA Mid-Atlantic Track Athlete of the Year 2011

BIG EAST Champion 1000 Meters (2010, 2011)

BIG EAST Champion Mile (2010)

BIG EAST Champion 4x800 Meter Relay (2010, 2011)

BIG EAST Champion Distance Medley Relay (2011)

All-BIG EAST 1000 Meters (2010, 2011)

All-BIG EAST Mile (2009, 2010)

All-BIG EAST 4x800 Mete Relay (2010, 2011)

All-BIG EAST Distance Medley Relay (2011)

Most Outstanding Track Athlete of the Meet 2010 BIG EAST Championships

asdfasdf wrote:

AC tries to send only super top athletes so that their pro rata success rate is higher (although artificial and overall produces a net loss) and therefore they get more funding from the COC as compared to other sports that bring more athletes. That is called protecting your fifedom at the expense of true success.

Thanks for playing.

Can you show me which item in the AC budget is their funding from the COC?

Your little crush is cute bro, it really is. The cold, hard fact is that Shelia, while being a phenomenal athlete at the collegiate level, is not going to medal and would not make the final in either the 1500m or 5000m at the Olympic Games. Canada should not waste their money sending her this year. This isn't a charity, it's the Olympics. She keeps plugging away, improving the way she should she will be good enough to get experience in the big races like WC and will make the team in 2016 with a real chance to do some damage.

A little naive Dennis. Canada has one track medal in the last 3 olympics. Bronze P-Lopes hurdles who is not going either because of flawed selection. To send no one in the womens 5K is myopic when you have an obvious rising star available. No question Sheila will contend for Rio but is Canada track better served by sending noone. AC deserves the ridicule.

Dennis Reynolds wrote:This isn't a charity, it's the Olympics. She keeps plugging away, improving the way she should she will be good enough to get experience in the big races like WC and will make the team in 2016 with a real chance to do some damage.

Let's assume Reid will be going to Rio in 4 years. The question is whether she would do better in Rio if she has the experience of London this year.

I think common sense says that she would benefit from the experience and be more competitive in 4 years if she went to London this year regardless of whether she medals or gets in the final. That's not "charity" - it's long-term athlete development, which ought to be one of AC's goals, not just a short-term and short-sighted focus on medals in the next month.

asdfasd wrote:

asdfasdf wrote:

AC tries to send only super top athletes so that their pro rata success rate is higher (although artificial and overall produces a net loss) and therefore they get more funding from the COC as compared to other sports that bring more athletes. That is called protecting your fifedom at the expense of true success.

Thanks for playing.

Can you show me which item in the AC budget is their funding from the COC?

http://athleticsvideos.com/2010AnnualReport.pdf

Check out the 4million that came from Sport Canada - which works in close conjunction with COC in doling out these funds. If you prefer, replace my reference to COC with sport canada - same result.

akdas wrote:

No question Sheila will contend for Rio but is Canada track better served by sending no one?

YES THEY ARE, IT IS QUITE EXPENSIVE TO SEND AN ATHLETE TO THE OLYMPICS AND THEY CAN SAVE THE MONEY.

How is no one getting this?

Dennis Reynolds wrote:

YES THEY ARE, IT IS QUITE EXPENSIVE TO SEND AN ATHLETE TO THE OLYMPICS AND THEY CAN SAVE THE MONEY.

How is no one getting this?

Just what I'm trying to say. By saving a few thousand dollars on Sheila Reid, Canada can use the money for essentials like buying a milk goat or mosquito netting for the impoverished villagers of Manitoba.

nothing against Shelia - as she is bright, young star.

But, on the other hand, if Shelia really wanted to go to the Olympics what was she doing competing 3 times over 3 days at Penn Relays when she could've been nailing her A standard in the 5000m at Payton Jordon? She started her year with a great 15:23 B standard at Mt. Sac, and then Payton Jordon was perfect for her (6 girls breaking the 15:20 A standard) and Sheila was back at Penn running a bunch of relays.

I know how important Penn Relay "wheels" are to Villanova, but seems like poor planning. Heck, she could've run the 4 x 1500m (which they won) on Thursday night, and still flown out and did the Payton Jordon 5000m in Palo Alto on Sunday night. I don't blame Sheila on this per se, but her advisors should've thought this one out a bit more -- just poor planning really.

akdas wrote:

Bronze P-Lopes hurdles who is not going either because of flawed selection.

Flawed? How? She finished 5th in the race.

First everyone complains that Canada should just use the same policy as the US: get standard and place top 3 at the Trials.

Now those same people are saying that policy isn't good enough and should involve a subjective decision by the same selectors they just finished bashing for making subjective decisions on where to put standards and repeat performances.

For anyone who wants to put Priscilla on the team, are they aware that they would then have to deny a spot to someone who finished 6th at the World Championships in 2011?

Of course I'm sure no one would think to complain that would be a stupid move.