An athlete can race when they want but it's not good for the sport for her (and Athing) to not race then make the national team and win Worlds and Olympics.
We can't make them race. I suppose they can come up with some minimum number of races to be eligible (kind of like in NY State you need 6 races before Sectionals/State Qualifiers to eligible.
But these are pros and they do what their coach thinks is best for them.
Maybe sponsorship will dry up? Who's out there more- Femke or Sydney?
I do find myself cheering for others to beat her.
She and Mu can leave the sport and no one will notice.
I think you owe it to the sport to participate. If you have time to write a book and promote it, you have time to race.
I don't understand all the hate. Who cares if she doesn't like to compete a lot. Every time she touches the track, a world record is at risk. No one else in track and field can say that. I guess some people love watching a bunch of 800 runners duke it out every week in diamond league for a 1:45 finish. Snore fest. Give me a couple races a year with WR potential. Much more interesting.
Sydney already has won five world and Olympic gold medals, including three relay golds, plus a silver in 2019 when she ran and won her only three Diamond League races. She hasn't run a Diamond League race in five years! She didn't compete at World's last year. Her only races last year were a 60m in 7.33 and some 400s, including a 48.74. She'll still be just 24 until August. I think I can speak for everyone to say that I hope she recovers her love for the sport.
Sydney and Athing are black. Most complainers here are bigoted incel white males who could not run sub 12secs in the 100M even if their lives depended on it.
Sydney has a white mother.
But still considered black in America. Are you pretending you have never heard of the racist 1 drop rule in America?
The good thing about the Olympics is there are no BYEs for defending champions, so Mu and McLaughlin HAVE to run at the Trials if they want to run in Paris.
But I think it won't be until the start of June before we know whether Sydney intends to run or not. Looking at her programme the last couple of seasons, it's perfectly reasonable to assume she will not race until then. She may possibly do a race before then, but unlikely. She will do one, or two meets, and then the Trials.
At the moment, the schedule allows her to attempt the 400/400mh double. Whether she actually does this, I am less certain of. But the schedule gives her that option and I think they wont decide until late whether she enters both. If she does both, they'll see how her body reacts, and then they have options for Paris. I personally believe she will be mad to double, because of the overlap. Past 200/400 doubles have been successful largely because of limited overlap, but the 400mh and 400m are on alternating, consecutive days in Paris. On top of that she has to face big talents in Miller-Uibo, Bol etc.
My instinct is she will run in Paris. If she is successful - i.e. at least 2 gold medals, as anything else would be seen as a disappointment - I think she will retire before LA28 and be a commentator there. If she isn't successful (injury/DNS, or gets beaten) then I could see her take a break, and come back for LA28.
On Athing Mu, it's worth pointing out what happened last season, where her one, decent time, wasn't enough to ensure she didn't face one of her challengers in the SF.
Remember, SF draws for the 800m at Championships are based on a combination of heat place and then SB prior to the Champs, not times run during the heats. Thus, Mu ended up in a SF with Moraa.
If she races sparingly again, and not fast, the same will happen in Paris, she will end up in a SF draw with a big competitor. She is of course talented enough to win, but it just adds another level of difficulty to qualifying, especially if the SF is slow. It's just something for her and us to bear in mind and another reason why racing little, against poorer opposition, isn't helpful in the 800m.
The good thing about the Olympics is there are no BYEs for defending champions, so Mu and McLaughlin HAVE to run at the Trials if they want to run in Paris.
But I think it won't be until the start of June before we know whether Sydney intends to run or not. Looking at her programme the last couple of seasons, it's perfectly reasonable to assume she will not race until then. She may possibly do a race before then, but unlikely. She will do one, or two meets, and then the Trials.
At the moment, the schedule allows her to attempt the 400/400mh double. Whether she actually does this, I am less certain of. But the schedule gives her that option and I think they wont decide until late whether she enters both. If she does both, they'll see how her body reacts, and then they have options for Paris. I personally believe she will be mad to double, because of the overlap. Past 200/400 doubles have been successful largely because of limited overlap, but the 400mh and 400m are on alternating, consecutive days in Paris. On top of that she has to face big talents in Miller-Uibo, Bol etc.
My instinct is she will run in Paris. If she is successful - i.e. at least 2 gold medals, as anything else would be seen as a disappointment - I think she will retire before LA28 and be a commentator there. If she isn't successful (injury/DNS, or gets beaten) then I could see her take a break, and come back for LA28.
Sydney will definitely double in the Trials. Then Kersee will decide (Sydney doesn't get a vote) whether or not to double at the Olympics.
No matter what happens this year, she has already said that she will soon be taking a year off to have a baby.
The good thing about the Olympics is there are no BYEs for defending champions, so Mu and McLaughlin HAVE to run at the Trials if they want to run in Paris.
But I think it won't be until the start of June before we know whether Sydney intends to run or not. Looking at her programme the last couple of seasons, it's perfectly reasonable to assume she will not race until then. She may possibly do a race before then, but unlikely. She will do one, or two meets, and then the Trials.
At the moment, the schedule allows her to attempt the 400/400mh double. Whether she actually does this, I am less certain of. But the schedule gives her that option and I think they wont decide until late whether she enters both. If she does both, they'll see how her body reacts, and then they have options for Paris. I personally believe she will be mad to double, because of the overlap. Past 200/400 doubles have been successful largely because of limited overlap, but the 400mh and 400m are on alternating, consecutive days in Paris. On top of that she has to face big talents in Miller-Uibo, Bol etc.
My instinct is she will run in Paris. If she is successful - i.e. at least 2 gold medals, as anything else would be seen as a disappointment - I think she will retire before LA28 and be a commentator there. If she isn't successful (injury/DNS, or gets beaten) then I could see her take a break, and come back for LA28.
I'm not sure if the guess that she ends up racing this year is accurate or not. I'd say it's 50/50 at best, but that's just my guess. Where I think this post really nailed is that we will know whether or not she's already retired by the Trials. We can't tell one way or the other now.
Either she decided to retire after the last Worlds she ran, did a couple races last year to see if she wanted to come back and didn't. Or, decided to retire after USATF last year. Maybe wasn't sure at first and thought about some indoor meets just to see and then said no. But one possiblity is that she's definitely retired since last summer.
Or maybe still considers herself active. All of you here on the Board besides the quoted poster definitively believe this last possibility has to be the case. As in, she's not retired now nor on the fence and not positive if she's coming back or not. Why nobody thinks she may have hung it up already is beyond me. At least widerganger is realistic and suggests we won't know until later in the year. We shall see.....
I guess your right, it's a bummer cos she is the most mature athlete at 24 years old we have and she's saving her racing for real events like the olympics
But one possiblity is that she's definitely retired since last summer.
Unlikely. There would be a lot of noise made if she retired. She has a smart marketing behind her. She knows that most of her revenue will be generated by sponsorships, eventually becoming a business around herself. But in order for that to happen, she needs to keep her name in the sport. She’ll be back for this year.
My instinct is she will run in Paris. If she is successful - i.e. at least 2 gold medals, as anything else would be seen as a disappointment - I think she will retire before LA28 and be a commentator there. If she isn't successful (injury/DNS, or gets beaten) then I could see her take a break, and come back for LA28.
I could see her retiring, but can't see her being a commentator. 1 - she can't get through a sentence without bringing up her faith 2 - i think she wants to be a religious influencer type, doesn't seem like she has any desire to be involved in the sport
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