Sheila Reid Olympics Situation

bzzrt wrote:

excluding people in other events by rigidly following a US style selection process.

No one is being unfairly "excluded" in the women's 100mH.

Anyone who wants to put Priscilla on the team therefore wants to unfairly exclude someone who finished 6th at the 2011 World Championships and finished top 3 at the Trials.

Finishing 5th when everyone ahead of you also has standard is not being "excluded". It is simply "not qualifying".

'A bunch'- there are 2. That is a couple last time I checked. She got 2 b standards in the 1500. Also, as we saw- Malindi Elmore won trials and did not get to go. Her winning trials illustrates that she is clearly on the same level as the 2 who are going but was unable to get the A. Canada clearly does not take its trials seriously- holding them at elevation where distance runners are negatively impacted.

gl wrote:[/. Canada clearly does not take its trials seriously- holding them at elevation where distance runners are negatively impacted.

I actually thought that holding the trials in Calgary was a conscious move. They are allowing the sprinters one more chance at the standard ( it worked for a few of them ). Middle distance races have never been run fasterthan the A standard ( even when the trials were not held at altitude), therefore the distance guy/ girls need standard before nationals. They would have greater likelihood of hitting standard in a paced raced than in a championship race.

So in effect, they are allowing more athletes to qualify.

Actually, Tarah Korir tried to push the pace but ran out of gas, so the early pace was pretty hot. They could have done it if it was at sea level.

Having been in the same position twice in Olympic years in Canadian track, Canada has a problem with it's image. The powers to be do not like Canadians going out in the heats or look bad. They simply will not take a chance on whether you do really well personally or finishing at the back of the pack in the heats. It has been that way since 1968 and even in their own Olympics as the host country in 1976, they did not use host 3 per event rule and left a ton of people who finished 2nd or 3rd in the Nationals.

Having been in the same position twice in Olympic years in Canadian track, Canada has a problem with it's image. The powers to be do not like Canadians going out in the heats or look bad. They simply will not take a chance on whether you do really well personally or finishing at the back of the pack in the heats. It has been that way since 1968 and even in their own Olympics as the host country in 1976, they did not use host 3 per event rule and left a ton of people who finished 2nd or 3rd in the Nationals.

as a former NCAA coach i sat in on the Canadian National rules meeting when I was up recruiting at Canadian Cross. I was shocked with their rules and lack of desire to send their best athletes to international meets.

YoureAnIdiot wrote:

Um, dude. Megan Wright made the Olympic Final in 2008.. So I wouldn't say she's never "quite made it"

Canada requires 2 B standards + top 3 at Nats to qualify as a Rising Star and earn a trip to London. Sheila only had the 1 'B' for the 5k, as well as the top 3, so she needed another B before the end of June.

As YoureAnIdiot pointed out, a Rising Star for Canada has an easier qualification for track athletes than in the US. If Reid came top 3 at USA's and didn't have an A standard there is no question that she wouldn't go, so I don't see what why there is an issue with her not going when she has easier qualifying criteria as a Rising Star than any American.

gl wrote:

Canada clearly does not take its trials seriously- holding them at elevation where distance runners are negatively impacted.

In addition to the fact just posted previously that middle distance/distance runners almost never (always never?) hit standard at the Trials regardless of location, where else should the meet have been held?

More specifically, what locations suitable to you put in bids but were turned down in favour of Calgary?

for reals wrote:

as a former NCAA coach i sat in on the Canadian National rules meeting when I was up recruiting at Canadian Cross. I was shocked with their rules and lack of desire to send their best athletes to international meets.

As previous two posters notes AC does not want to send it's top athletes aywheres to international competition unless they are a legitimate medal threat. Hence the higher than normal standards.

On the other hand you could be the 4th best Kenyan or Ethiopian and still be alegit medal threat and not even make their team. AND be miles ahead of the next best Canadian/Swede etc. The Olympics is a bit of a farce anyway in this regard.

Well said. The huge issues I have with this is that if there are no Canadian athletes competing at the Olympics, then what role models or inspirations do young upcoming runners have? Womens distance running in Canada is a joke right now save for a few standouts. It's not all about the medals.I remember the era of Lynn Williams, Sue Lee, Angela Chalmers, Leah Pells, Tina Connelly, Debbie Bowker, Britt McRoberts, Nancy Tinari that all were world class. Where are their equals today? I totally fault Athletics Canada/COC

for reals wrote:

as a former NCAA coach i sat in on the Canadian National rules meeting when I was up recruiting at Canadian Cross. I was shocked with their rules and lack of desire to send their best athletes to international meets.

Canada wrote:

Where are their equals today? I totally fault Athletics Canada/COC

In the way that USATF is totally responsible for the outstanding US female distance running performers?

pho real wrote:

As YoureAnIdiot pointed out, a Rising Star for Canada has an easier qualification for track athletes than in the US. If Reid came top 3 at USA's and didn't have an A standard there is no question that she wouldn't go, so I don't see what why there is an issue with her not going when she has easier qualifying criteria as a Rising Star than any American.

You're a moron. Not if there weren't any people with an A Standard. Look at Amanda Smock.

2 Canadian women hold A standard at 1500m, Reid does not. She also does not have A standard at 5000m and is second ranked Canadian. The reality is even if selected she would fail to progress out of the heats of either distance. She is good but not yet at a truly world class level

Canada wrote:

Well said. The huge issues I have with this is that if there are no Canadian athletes competing at the Olympics, then what role models or inspirations do young upcoming runners have? Womens distance running in Canada is a joke right now save for a few standouts. It's not all about the medals.

I remember the era of Lynn Williams, Sue Lee, Angela Chalmers, Leah Pells, Tina Connelly, Debbie Bowker, Britt McRoberts, Nancy Tinari that all were world class. Where are their equals today? I totally fault Athletics Canada/COC

Almost all those girls would be trash today against the Africans, and have to strain desperately to make the 5000m final. The game has changed.

Man, you guys don't even know the half of it. Trust me. It's ridiculous that AC tells Sheila Reid to focus on her school season and then leaves her off the Olympic team. I mean, to say to this impressionable, young girl "Sheila, we want you to focus on winning collegiate races and scoring points for your school; you don't have to worry about the Olympic standards" and then not put her on the Olympic team? At one point, Sheila emailed AC and asked "would it be okay if I changed my race schedule and went after the 5,000m standard again? I hear there's a good race coming up at Stanford" and AC replied "no, Sheila, don't run in another open 5,000m race." And then - you're not going to believe this part - Sheila actually entered herself in a fast 5,000m without telling AC, as she was getting worried about meeting the qualifying criteria she'd read, and an AC official got wind of this, FLEW to California and physically prevented Sheila from getting on the start line, just like they did to Pre. She was furious, shouting "I finally read the criteria; I know I need another B standard, why won't you let me race this 5,000m?!?" and they just wouldn't budge. Why? Because AC is so evil.

Sheila and her Coach chose Penn Relays over Stanford. Simple as that. The criteria was set in stone. Run 15:19.99 and your on the team if you finish top 4 at Canadians. Sheila had summer of 2011 and all of 2012 to run these times. Sheila has been amazing for Villanova, can the same be said of Villanova for Sheila?

Let's not forget that she DID NOT make the A standard. She has only hit the B standard once... Why does she deserve to go if she didn't hit the time she needed to? Yes, USA loves her but she isn't running for the US and she wouldn't have made our team anyway.

It doesn't matter if she is a National champion. If you can't run the time needed, too bad, so sad. If there are faster runners in the 5k, they should go. If they made the A, they deserve to go. She doesn't.

[quote]Canada wrote:

Well said. The huge issues I have with this is that if there are no Canadian athletes competing at the Olympics, then what role models or inspirations do young upcoming runners have? Womens distance running in Canada is a joke right now save for a few standouts. It's not all about the medals.

I remember the era of Lynn Williams, Sue Lee, Angela Chalmers, Leah Pells, Tina Connelly, Debbie Bowker, Britt McRoberts, Nancy Tinari that all were world class. Where are their equals today? I totally fault Athletics Canada/COC

[quote]for reals wrote:

...but in this particular case, we have 2 women in the 800 and 2 women in the 1500...

On the men's side, w have representatives in the 800, 1500, 5000, 10000, steeple and a full contingent in the marathon... I can't remember the last time we covered all these events...