This one doesn’t yap she just runs. Letsrun. Just run.
Woah.
you can give her crap for being insane. that's different.
people gave her crap specifically because she ran for greece because she couldn't make the US team. we got the same situation here.
btw, i'm okay with both of them running for another country, regardless of the level of insanity.
Pappas actually might’ve made the US 10k team. I believe she placed higher than the 3rd American at the Rio olympics. Running for Greece did give her the advantage of not having to peak for trials and being certain she’d make a team, though.
I agree otherwise, let them run for whoever they want. If you meet the eligibility requirements to run for another country you have a legit connection to the place. It’s part of the olympic spirit imo.
To be brutally honest, I'm often not thrilled when someone brought up in one country, entirely a product of its developmental system, and still living there, decides to represent another country with a team that's easier to make. And in this case, not a Third World country that needs stars from elsewhere to advocate for growing its training infrastructure and such. What of patriotism, and what's even the point of national teams if nationhood is treated so loosely?
If Mondo can choose to represent Sweden because of the US system of selection to Majors when he's a lock barring a Dan O'Brien situation, then Mia Barnett who has little chance of making a US team should feel free to find a country to represent.
Mondo would make any team he wanted, he's the best all time, that's the difference. Decent chance Barnett would never make a USA team.
She has a 4:06 1500m. But ceiling and room to grow racing in Europe this summer. Shes also a senior but only 21 one of the younger of the NCAA elite class so going pro is smart while being young and finishing college. She’s ran full four years without redshirting. Very rare these days in NCAA to graduate that young. I believe like O’Sullivan and others she will drop a lot of time with specific training creating up for major international events. I wish her well.
truth is that unless u are mondo or ståhl-mannen u are not guaranted any olympic spot. u have to be top 3 in ur event or very young n promising.
i wud say that (except usa, kenya n UK) sweden has one of the hardest olympic qualification standards. because its fickle, because performing alone does not count. the athletes themselves have no idea what is required from them...hopefully this will change in the future...
Mondo is a GOAT-level athlete who could make any team in the world. There is not some team-making advantage for him.
This Oregon runner seems to be getting a HUGE change in opportunity. Very different.
You clearly don't understand. Yes Mondo is a GOAT but if, at the US OTs as a for instance he ends up no heighting, having a bad day or has an injury he's not on the team. That's unlikely but still a possibility.
I also pointed out the better situation for Barnett.
If he felt the need to do it so should Barnett.
Cute response.
How very Dunning-Kruger of you. 😆
Let me explain for you, with actual data.
Mondo entered and won 17 of 17 competitions in 2024. Every single one of his results would have won the USATF trials (with the exception of meets where he retired early...because he had already won).
Mia Barnett apparently has PBs of 2:03 and 4:08/4:26. She is a great athlete but not even pertinent to a conversation about a US team.
.
Again, let me help you understand the difference. In terms of qualifying for championship teams...
Mia Barnett a dual citizen reportedly will run for team Sweden this Summer. It was recently reported by her new club team in Gothenburg.
Obviously in a competitive sport she is going to make a decision that gives her the best chance at being successful. Track & Field is an INDIVIDUAL SPORT believe it or not..
To be brutally honest, I'm often not thrilled when someone brought up in one country, entirely a product of its developmental system, and still living there, decides to represent another country with a team that's easier to make. And in this case, not a Third World country that needs stars from elsewhere to advocate for growing its training infrastructure and such. What of patriotism, and what's even the point of national teams if nationhood is treated so loosely?
However, each person and their journey is different, and I suppose there can be individual factors we don't know about that could make this more understandable.
While this practice is definitely slimy either way, I honestly think it is much worse when first-world raised athletes do this with a third-world duel citizenship. The most recent that comes to mind is Yaseen Abdalla in the 2024 Olympic marathon representing Sudan. The "universality spots" given to these countries are effectively a form for charity given by the IOC. They allow these countries to enter 1 person the 100m or marathon, with the understanding that the citizens of these countries don't have access to modern facilities, coaching, nutrition, ect, so it would not be fair to hold them to the extremely strict Olympic qualifying standards.
Yaseen effectively took that spot from an actual Sudanese poor person who could have represented their country. It would be like a weathly person going to a food bank just because they are too cheap to buy groceries. Sure, it's "legal" but extremely unethical.
Either way, World Athletics and the IOC need to be much stricter with these allegiance changes. There should be a long enough waiting period that you can't just do it for an easy Olympic/World Championships spot the next cycle.
Mondo entered and won 17 of 17 competitions in 2024. Every single one of his results would have won the USATF trials (with the exception of meets where he retired early...because he had already won).
Mia Barnett apparently has PBs of 2:03 and 4:08/4:26. She is a great athlete but not even pertinent to a conversation about a US team.
.
Again, let me help you understand the difference. In terms of qualifying for championship teams...
- American competition is irrelevant to Mondo.
- Barnett is irrelevant to American competition.
See the difference?
All true, but in Sweden Mondo gets an assigned spot for Olympics and Worlds, so does not even have to deal with trials. Not to mention he's a huge star in Europe and is just another athlete in USA.
No one claimed he could not win usatf, but it's much better if you don't need to compete there.
You clearly don't understand. Yes Mondo is a GOAT but if, at the US OTs as a for instance he ends up no heighting, having a bad day or has an injury he's not on the team. That's unlikely but still a possibility.
I also pointed out the better situation for Barnett.
If he felt the need to do it so should Barnett.
Cute response.
How very Dunning-Kruger of you. 😆
Let me explain for you, with actual data.
Mondo entered and won 17 of 17 competitions in 2024. Every single one of his results would have won the USATF trials (with the exception of meets where he retired early...because he had already won).
Mia Barnett apparently has PBs of 2:03 and 4:08/4:26. She is a great athlete but not even pertinent to a conversation about a US team.
.
Again, let me help you understand the difference. In terms of qualifying for championship teams...
- American competition is irrelevant to Mondo.
- Barnett is irrelevant to American competition.
See the difference?
since you're belittling our poor colleague for giving a valid analysis, (1) mondo's older brother quietly and less successfully repped sweden before him.
(2) sweden called up mondo's dad and hired him as NT PV coach. do you want to work with your dad? come rep sweden.
(3) his wife is now from there.
(4) mondo occasionally has a bad day at the office. about every field event person does. your steps are wrong. your standard settings aren't working. a bad diamond league stop. a second at worlds. those bad days could in theory sync up with either our PV prelims or finals -- you have to survive 2 days. then you're done for olympics or worlds. no one can intervene. no one cares about your CV or year.
he switches to sweden and that concern disappears. sweden has a basic cutoff to represent them that mondo long ago met. sweden then has leadership pick a team based on vague gestalt looking at their season. which his usual quality covers, but also washes away any headscratcher outings. so his dan o'brien risk is about zero unless he insults sweden (where his mother and wife come from) or gets old.
i do agree it's two different discussions. as a soccer fan, NT will fight over elite dual nationals. they have a choice.
vs. some kid who either never repped the US or didn't get above like U17 age groups, who has one path to the world cup qualifiers, deciding to go represent puerto rico or something. they play in the first round of qualifiers then are eliminated. maybe they get some friendly games and plane tickets out of it.
mondo is one; the greek girl is the other.
i could see the problem being that USATF tends to put the goodies the other side of success. you make trials, you win something, they offer support, rewards, etc. vs. european countries might hire the parent as a coach or support the athlete before they have actually put up the results.
Mondo entered and won 17 of 17 competitions in 2024. Every single one of his results would have won the USATF trials (with the exception of meets where he retired early...because he had already won).
Mia Barnett apparently has PBs of 2:03 and 4:08/4:26. She is a great athlete but not even pertinent to a conversation about a US team.
.
Again, let me help you understand the difference. In terms of qualifying for championship teams...
- American competition is irrelevant to Mondo.
- Barnett is irrelevant to American competition.
See the difference?
since you're belittling our poor colleague for giving a valid analysis, (1) mondo's older brother quietly and less successfully repped sweden before him.
(2) sweden called up mondo's dad and hired him as NT PV coach. do you want to work with your dad? come rep sweden.
(3) his wife is now from there.
(4) mondo occasionally has a bad day at the office. about every field event person does. your steps are wrong. your standard settings aren't working. a bad diamond league stop. a second at worlds. those bad days could in theory sync up with either our PV prelims or finals -- you have to survive 2 days. then you're done for olympics or worlds. no one can intervene. no one cares about your CV or year.
he switches to sweden and that concern disappears. sweden has a basic cutoff to represent them that mondo long ago met. sweden then has leadership pick a team based on vague gestalt looking at their season. which his usual quality covers, but also washes away any headscratcher outings. so his dan o'brien risk is about zero unless he insults sweden (where his mother and wife come from) or gets old.
You have furthered my point. So...thanks!
Mondo has a much less contrived family connection to Sweden than Barnett: His mother being born there. (His wife is pretty irrelevant here as he chose to compete for Sweden long before they met. In fact, they probably never would have met otherwise.)
Sure, Mondo gets a tiny THEORETICAL "trials avoidance" advantage from competing for Sweden -- a theory based on the idea of a "Dan O'Brien" moment from a guy who went 17-for-17 in 2024. It seems like Americans really overestimate how are the US trials would be for a guy who trounces the best American competition over dozen times per year.
The idea that Mondo's occasional "bad day at the office" would EVER line up with a meet as consequential as a trials is a FICTION. 2 OG gold, 2 WC gold, 3 WIC gold, 4 DL wins, various Euro wins...one WC silver. He has only a few DL non-wins out of dozens of outings (where is result was still good enough to medal at USATF.)
He has never ONCE had such a misstep in something as important as the direct road to the OG/WC. Coming second at worlds is not equal to having a meet so bad that he couldn't place third in the US. 😆
Meanwhile, Barnett gets an clear CONCRETE advantage in that the third-best 800 runner in Sweden has a 2:01 and not a 1:57.
Mondo's decision: sentimental and patriotic for Sweden. Barnett's: calculated and cynical.
in duplantis' case, he was a prodigy, but to snag his nationality age 15 in HS, you have to project 17' type jumps to what he becomes. if you don't he's already swedish. having very little sweden makes that bet. in the US that's not enough to win a senior competition, we earn the national team and stick the goodies other side of that. so we won't take the risks at the age it got decided.
Mondo has a much less contrived family connection to Sweden than Barnett: His mother being born there. (His wife is pretty irrelevant here as he chose to compete for Sweden long before they met. In fact, they probably never would have met otherwise.)
Sure, Mondo gets a tiny THEORETICAL "trials avoidance" advantage from competing for Sweden -- a theory based on the idea of a "Dan O'Brien" moment from a guy who went 17-for-17 in 2024. It seems like Americans really overestimate how are the US trials would be for a guy who trounces the best American competition over dozen times per year.
The idea that Mondo's occasional "bad day at the office" would EVER line up with a meet as consequential as a trials is a FICTION. 2 OG gold, 2 WC gold, 3 WIC gold, 4 DL wins, various Euro wins...one WC silver. He has only a few DL non-wins out of dozens of outings (where is result was still good enough to medal at USATF.)
He has never ONCE had such a misstep in something as important as the direct road to the OG/WC. Coming second at worlds is not equal to having a meet so bad that he couldn't place third in the US. 😆
Meanwhile, Barnett gets an clear CONCRETE advantage in that the third-best 800 runner in Sweden has a 2:01 and not a 1:57.
Mondo's decision: sentimental and patriotic for Sweden. Barnett's: calculated and cynical.
Why all this writing? No one arguing with you.
Mondo: very good, can make any team. Who knows may soon rep Qatar for big pay.
Barnett: can make Sweden team much easier than USA. Not world class yet, but who knows maybe she develops.
Why cynical? These are the rules, people will capitalize on them to get a chance to play. Hope she keeps improving.
also, we can have a chat with "mu" and many others on paper superiority vs. bad luck on the day.
Terrible post, actually.
Mu's record in 2024 is not remotely comparable to Mondo's.
Mondo entered and won 17 of 17 competitions in 2024.
Mu ran exactly ONE race in 2024 prior to the US Trials, placing FIFTH.
See the difference?
Mu was FAR from a sure thing at the 2024 trials.
Mondo would be the most certain win in the whole meet.
you're not half as clever as you think. in brussels 2022 mondo loses to obina. misses once first height, shaky day, then blows all 3 at the last one. obina clears. any given sunday. you're listing accomplishments. you're not listing that one. and actual athletes know you won't know the difference until the meet is over. and he's making the decision in 2015 as a HS kid before 3 feet more of height and all these meets you're throwing on top like cherries.
he's a 15 year old kid jumping 17 making the decision. he doesn't know the future. and he would not be certain of your thoughts at the time. even full grown mondo can't guarantee things and has the odd bad night. and here one bad night on the wrong meet and you're done.
you then make your same, lame amateur historian's error of giving mu knowledge how her trials ends. if she had a nationality choice before it started, she doesn't know how it ends when she makes the choice. she only knows she's not going to paris afterwards.
BUT the difference is that pretty much everyone involved knows up front what our rules are and the downside risks they create. some people might stay loyal or enjoy the competition. some might like the sure thing.
when i was going to college i preferred a school with a likely starting/relay role over one where i was offered a walkon.
and remember he's making this decision as a HS freshman who though fairly special wouldn't win some college conference meets or qualify for trials yet. but sweden is sufficiently undermanned they can commit and offer resources to someone who would already be their top junior and headed towards their best adult, age 15. we can guarantee you selection to career changing world youth meets. we will hire your dad.
you're fast forwarding to pro mondo who at that point is 4 years' sweden. the debate is already over.
Looks like she will get the 3rd spot on Swedens team and go to world championships. I keep forgetting she’s only 21. Feels like shes been in NCAA for awhile. One of the last of 17 year olds going to college and finishing college at the age athletes should. I believe the 1500m team is Vera Sjorberg, Vilma Nielsen, and Mia Barnett.
Looks like she will get the 3rd spot on Swedens team and go to world championships. I keep forgetting she’s only 21. Feels like shes been in NCAA for awhile. One of the last of 17 year olds going to college and finishing college at the age athletes should. I believe the 1500m team is Vera Sjorberg, Vilma Nielsen, and Mia Barnett.
Top 3 by SB goes. Nielsen (4:02) and Sjöberg (4:05 solo win at windy nationals vs all the other big dogs) are already selected. Both Barnett and Ngarambe has run 4:05, (4:05,39 vs 4:05,84) so unless Ngarambe goes below Barnetts time at the Swedish-Finnish match this weekend she's selected. Moving to Sweden was a good move regardless.
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