I think any athlete that hits the qualifying standards should be allowed to compete. If that means tightening up the standards a bit more, to ensure there aren't like 100 people qualifying in each event, so be it, but only allowing three athletes from a country in an event like the marathon, when Kenya has literally dozens who could qualify and be competitive, is absurd.
Star wrote:
Torrence has the fastest 1500m time for an American so far this year.
They should get rid of no more than 3 for each country for the Olympics or at least the World Championships.
They should simply take all of the best runners in the world.
You shouldn't have Jared Ward in the Olympics and not Kenenisa Bekele.
You're missing the point of the Olympics. It is a time when ALL countries lay down arms and send their best athletes to compete. It is NOT a time where the best athletes from only a FEW countries go to compete.
Dretch wrote:
Bad Wigins wrote:He might as well... he's career's been going downhill
Nice Big Wave reference.
Nah dawg you're giving him too much credit.
Is this a reflection of the millennial entitlement generation?
Can't compete with the USA's best so they take the easier route to the Olympics.
It seems to happen a lot, but did it happen in the 70s and 80s too.
dios le puedo wrote:
So say that there are countries that can't meet the standard and they don't get in. How do they improve? You are now preventing athletes who don't have a chance to win, but may inspire the next generation of athletes. By not allowing them in you are preventing the next generation from getting in, etc etc. You are essentially guaranteeing certain countries dominate certain sports.
That is already the case with the current rules.
Every country does not get three athletes per event unless all three are freaking fast.
Most countries do not have anyone in the 1500 or marathon.
We are talking about allowing more fast people in.
If that means making the standards tougher to maintain field sizes then so be it.
I do get the idea of each country sending their best team.
A lot of Americans can't make the US basketball team while less ball players from other countries get to go to the Olympics.
But track is really not a team sport.
three sources wrote:
In that tournament, Torrence exceeded the minimum mark to qualify for the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, which was impressive considering he had yet to do any of sessions of speed required to work him to sharpened running condition.
Wake Up wrote:
You're missing the point of the Olympics. It is a time when ALL countries lay down arms and send their best athletes to compete. It is NOT a time where the best athletes from only a FEW countries go to compete.
But it is viewed as an event where ALL of the BEST ATHLETES compete and that is not actually the case.
I'm actually fine with it as it is.
But we don't like seeing athletes switching countries to go.
And we don't like seeing very good athletes get left out.
This is good for the United States, more Americans at the Olympics.
Torrence has a great shot to make the 1500 team this year with Centro hurt and Leo out of shape. He's run 1:45.1 and 13:16. Definitely has the strength to get through rounds. He's back with his old coach John Cook and has been focusing on his finishing ability in the last 50 meters. For the US team, he'll have to beat out Centro, Andrews, Manzano, Wheating (just ran 1:47 low), Garrett Heath, and Blankenship.
If he were to medal, I wonder if he would pull a Manzano and take a victory lap hoisting the Peru and US flags ?
If he has dual citizenship, it is totally cool and understandable that he would want to ensure he gets to the Olympics. If it's true no Peruvian has the 1500 or 5000 standards, then it's doubly cool.
It's completely different than an athlete switching allegiance to Bahrain, Qatar, or Turkey, even if the purpose seems similar on the surface (ensuring WC/Olympic appearance).
When DT came to letsrun and was trained on how to run a sub 4 mile
............. wrote:
Ridiculous. I would be angry if I was an athlete from Peru who Torrence just took a spot away from.
Whom? Which Peruvian runners are competing at the Olympic qualifying level over 5000m? Kinda surprised to see this level of ignorance about the sport on LR to be honest. Good for Torrence, good for the gal competing for Greece. People need to tone it down about with the nationalistic stuff. These athletes won't be competing with the American contingent we send to the Games (13:49 is more than 200m behind our best guys), so it really shouldn't be a concern to create feigned worry and anger. They've found an avenue to live out their dreams. Best to all of them.
Ichabods Crane wrote:
Once you compete internationally in one uniform you should not be allowed to change except in the situation of a refugee that is from a war zone. I guess if David was from Chicago he could claim that but he is not and he has competed for the US.
+1
Pick a damn country already.
Can he run the 1500 for the USA and the 5000 for Peru?
Well Torrence recently ran 13:16 and has one of the top 1500 times for Americans this year also.
I'd say he had about a 25-30% chance of making the US team. 100% for Peru though, that's tough to beat.
readitdaily wrote:
Can he run the 1500 for the USA and the 5000 for Peru?
No.
It says
According to the statement sent by the Department of Relations with the National Olympic Committees IOC, the sports management agency accepted the request for an exception to Rule 41 -and their respective application- typified in the current Olympic Charter (December 8, 2014 ) which details that "a competitor who has represented one country at a recognized by the International Federation competent who has changed nationality regional or continental tournament, may represent in the Olympic Games to their new country provided they have passed so least three years since the competitor last represented the former country. "
How can Torrence compete for Peru when he has competed internationally for the US in the last three years?
Ben L Wrong wrote:
At least he's more Peruvian than Alberto Fujimori.
What? Peru has a very high Asian population, and has for many, many years. By your definition, the only real Americans are Native Americas: At least he's more American than any white-boy child of long ago European immigrants.
He's just joining the swelling ranks of athletic mercenaries. Very disappointing.
After having lost to Lagat so many times in his career, maybe he decided if you can't beat them, join them. Of course Lagat was an actual medal threat, while Torrence would just be an Olympic tourist.