Shaq Walker appeal

Condolences wrote:

Amerikano wrote:

Third, Engles is a 1:46.13 guy... he is not part of our best team. Shaq W is the #3 guy in the trials, and the #2 with Braizer out... (according to the Letsrun list). Shaq has the A-Standard and has much better marks than Engles, we should have kept him in the Trials as well. He has a better shot of doing better in the Olympic Games than Engles. The Trials are about sending our best 3, period.

Ahahahahahaha! Why are we even running these races? Should have just sent the top three and told the rest to pack their bags and go home.

Luckily the races are run not on paper. And Shaq blew it.

Were "Mr. 600" Cas Loxom, a guy coming off 2 years of injuries in B. Johnson, and a back-from-the-dead Charles Jock aware that they were in front of THE NUMBER 3 800 GUY IN THE TRIALS!?!? How dare they...poor form!

one to go wrote:

Walker is allowed to change his path to react to the runner in front of him and he's not supposed to have eyes in the back of his head.

Wrong, Walker is not allowed to cut people off, nor to knock people off the track. He has to be clear to move over, and he wasn't.

Had he been clear, then he'd have been out of reach of Engels.

I still don't get why you think Engels somehow caught up in 4 strides after Walker had cut him off and caused him to stumble. Just think how fast Engels would have finished had Walker not done that, which is why the officials put him in the final.

Unbiased Observer wrote:

one to go wrote:

Walker is allowed to change his path to react to the runner in front of him and he's not supposed to have eyes in the back of his head.

Wrong, Walker is not allowed to cut people off, nor to knock people off the track. He has to be clear to move over, and he wasn't.

Had he been clear, then he'd have been out of reach of Engels.

I still don't get why you think Engels somehow caught up in 4 strides after Walker had cut him off and caused him to stumble. Just think how fast Engels would have finished had Walker not done that, which is why the officials put him in the final.

Engels was not "up" enough for Walker to have any reason to sense that he was there or for Engels to have a claim to the line. Engels could easily have avoided contact. He tried to force it because there was so little time left in the race. That's his problem. Run faster earlier.

Someone mentioned this earlier Connie Smith Price is the Women's Olympic Coach, and is the Head Coach at Old Miss. That is why this happened.

What would happen if it was Brazier or Murphy?

It is an obvious poor call and Walker should be in the Final at best, at worst there is NO way Engels should be let in.

3:38 and 1:46.1 with a year of college left is a POS? Wow good one, Trump.

Looked pretty close to me from the angle I saw but from what I've read, Walker should have been able to move over if the guy in front of him moved over and he was ahead of Engels enough (couldn't see behind him). I think Walker was dealt a bad deal. I think he was in second when it all happened so he could very well of ended up in the top three.

There was no real problem until Engels decide to move out. He could have slowed down and moved around to be sure he didn't impede anybody. But instead he tried hopping over Walker. This tripped up Walker, who at the time was in position to make the final. Walker was clearly impeded because of what Engels did.

And after Engels clearly impedes one runner, he trips and impedes another runner! And how do they reward Engels for impeding two different people? They gift him a spot in the finals! Unbelievable.

SHAQ SHOULD BE IN!

ENGELS SHOULD BE OUT!

Info - USATF has already made some favorable rulings for fast Nike athletes, i.e. letting Chris Derrick into the meet at 27 and allowing Gil Roberts DQ to be turned around to allow him into the finals. If there wasn't the blantant favoritisms already being shown, I would say it should not make a difference and agree with you.

Walker being one of the top ranked guys shouldn't have anything to do with the ruling, but it does have something to do with the positions coming off the rail.

Johnson was tucked on the inside of lane 1, with Walker in the great position in lane 2. Murphy knew he needed to pass, ran wide along with Jock. Engles was just hoping things opened up, but tactically was in a very bad spot with 100m to go. I do think their level of abilities had something to do with how things played out.

Johnson did move out to lane 2, which caused all the switching around. I'd say Walker reacted to that move, and Engles was back to being trapped inside. Walker actually had room to move in, then Engles tried to move around and clipped Walker.

My take on the call: Engles was given a pass because he actually fell. Without the fall, Engles doesn't move on. With 100m to go, Walker was ahead and had better position... it is funny how the faster guy would be ahead with 60m to go..

I'm just pissed because it screws up my contest picks.

Would you guys like to see a rule that says If the incident is not egregious enough to get a DQ then it is not reason enough to advance someone

Murphy's Soap wrote:

Will he be put into finals?

I think not as It appeared he was the one who encroached-- but perhaps even more important is that he's not in a Nike kit. Runners going pro should not underestimate the intangible benefits of being a Nike athlete.

What say ye?

Perhaps because he is a Brooks runner, Walker's protest fell on deaf ears. Both runners were equally at fault in my opinion. The only fair outcome would be either they both advance or neither. I personally think that neither should be in the final. It involved incidental contact which happens all the time in 800 meter racing. I hope that Engles doesn't trip anyone in the final.

Amerikano wrote:

With 100m to go, Walker was ahead and had better position... it is funny how the faster guy would be ahead with 60m to go..

Engels' mistake was in not realizing how badly Walker was fading. Engels had to break momentum severely to avoid steamrolling the "faster" Walker and wasn't able to slow down fast enough to avoid clipping him as he tried to move around him. Funny how that works out... the "faster" guy is somehow in the way and has to be avoided by the "slower" guy.

The whole "Walker should have been advanced to the final" schtick is absurd. Walker was clearly toast and the only decision for the USATF was whether Engels should have been advanced. I don't think he should have been advanced, but I can understand why the USATF did it.

I will literally be cheering against Engels tonight. I am rooting for him to finish DFL. He's a 1:47 guy on a good day. Has NO BUSINESS being in the 800m final. Even if he somehow made the team he'd never make it out of the first round in Rio.What a joke! That Ole Miss coach should be investigated. As for Walker, crappy break. I feel for him. He's much more talented and appeared to do everything correctly as I saw it.

I swear all of this advancing of falling runners in prelims is a way to somehow make up for Jim Ryun falling in the 1972 1500m Olympic semifinals and not being advanced.

https://youtu.be/KJVuS1fUx4A?t=384

MLMs are no frickin good wrote:

I will literally be cheering against Engels tonight. I am rooting for him to finish DFL. He's a 1:47 guy on a good day. Has NO BUSINESS being in the 800m final. Even if he somehow made the team he'd never make it out of the first round in Rio.What a joke! That Ole Miss coach should be investigated. As for Walker, crappy break. I feel for him. He's much more talented and appeared to do everything correctly as I saw it.

However if Walker was white, and Engels was black, you'd be trashing Walker and arguing for Engels to be in the final.

flotrack video with Shaq.

full race video.

Announcers even said that Walker was impeded. Looks to me like walker got cut off by Johnson so walker went for the win on the inside and was gaining ground when clipped. He would have beat Jock it looks like. Walker should have made Jock go way wide but he was pulling up at the same time Johnson moved over and it cut him off so he went for the inside.

Anon wrote:

so walker went for the win on the inside and was gaining ground when clipped. He would have beat Jock it looks like.

If Walker had pulled far enough ahead of Engels to cut in on him, then he could not possibly have been clipped from behind.

Watching a different race? wrote:

I saw it as Walker did come down to lane 1 rail when there appeared to be a small window. The one guy put out his arm to brace himself but realized the move was made and was successful. Even though that guy wasn't putting down a strong finish, he made the attempt, after a few steps, to make a hard move to get around Walker. Walker was tripped when that runner decided to cut hard across the lane behind him, when he clearly didn't have the room to make the move.

Seems pretty clear cut that Walker should be in the finals.

You are one cucked PC wimp. Certain peoples can do no wrong, eh? As long as they have enough melanin, right?

Johnson drifted from the inside of lane 1 to running right on the outside line of lane 1 cutting Shaq off. Shaq had every right by the rules to cut to the inside. Engles was behind walker when Walker moved over.

Announcer said Engels got to close to Walker and it effected him for sure and that he (Walker) will probably file a protest.