Robbie Andrews has got to be in Shock right now...

Did you post this before, or only in hindsight?

The kick shouldn't be his only focus... he's got a whole race to worry about. If you look at the people going to london, you notice that every one of them B.A.M.F. that stuff up from start to finish.

He needs to do the work now so that he can B.A.M.F. that stuff later on... and do it easily.

Wouldn't Wheating, Manzano or Centro be in even more shock right now if they didn't place top three?

They've spent much more than 6 months honing their world class 1500m skills and they all competed in last year's World Championships.

Centro has a medal.

Manzano was on the last Olympic team and has gotten better.

Wheating made the Olympics before and has run 3:30.

Andrews ran under 3:40 once in his life and has to be in shock?

He isn't even faster than Wheating or Manzano in the 800 and tell me has a beter kick than Centro.

I'm kind of surprised Andrews beat Torrence but Torrence looked a little tight to me.

This pretty much sums it up. There were a lot of ifs in the 1500m (how healthy were wheating and Centro) but if everyone ran up to snuff, Andrews was going to 3rd,4th or 5th. A 3.34.8 is going to struggle against 3:30 and 3:32.5 runners But guess what, he was going to be in the same boat in the 800m where he would have had an outside shot at being 3rd but 4th and 5th were also likely.If robbie gets 1s faster in the 800m (or 2 in the 1500m) he can expect to make the team. Right now he is at the point where he has a shot at the team but not making it isn't too surprising.

toro wrote:

Wouldn't Wheating, Manzano or Centro be in even more shock right now if they didn't place top three?

They've spent much more than 6 months honing their world class 1500m skills and they all competed in last year's World Championships.

Centro has a medal.

Manzano was on the last Olympic team and has gotten better.

Wheating made the Olympics before and has run 3:30.

Andrews ran under 3:40 once in his life and has to be in shock?

He isn't even faster than Wheating or Manzano in the 800 and tell me has a beter kick than Centro.

I'm kind of surprised Andrews beat Torrence but Torrence looked a little tight to me.

I believe your comments on the 800 are INCORRECT. Robby stood a great chance of making the 800 team. Look how fast he ran at NYC.

Also, the 800 is a far more predictable event than the 1,500. Shadow Symmonds and you stand a great chance.

Yes, Robby was not a lock to make the 800 team, but playing the percentages the 800 was a much WISER route to go.

Question - would Robby still be at Virginia if Jason Vigilante was still there?

Andrew's should do what Spivey did when he missed the Olympic team. Spivey simply took out his anger on the European tour and ran 3:49 mile. Andrew's has the talent to among the half dozen or so Americans to go under the 3:50 mile barrier. His 3:34 1500 shows he is at least in 3:52 mile condition. There is nothing like a fast mile to get back your confidence!

Was RA sick before the race? did that play a part in the decision (15 over 8) if it gave him more time to recover?

Thanks google wrote:

Andrew's should do what Spivey did when he missed the Olympic team. Spivey simply took out his anger on the European tour and ran 3:49 mile. Andrew's has the talent to among the half dozen or so Americans to go under the 3:50 mile barrier. His 3:34 1500 shows he is at least in 3:52 mile condition. There is nothing like a fast mile to get back your confidence!

Where should he run that fast mile?

No one knew what to expect because he's never run 3 rounds of the 1500 before. Strange to try it first in Olympic year.

Spivey won a 1500m WC medal the year before he missed the Olympic team and he had won the Olympic Trials 4 years earlier.

Spivey had "slightly" better credentials going into the race than Andrews had this year.

I don't see how Andrews missing the team is any kind of upset.

Race Tactics Are Key wrote:

Terrible race tactics by Robbie. He was close to last with 500 meters to go. He had to use so much energy between 400 and 200 to go to get himself in position that he coudn't kick well enough the last 200 to finish like he needed to.

Let this be a lesson to every kicker out there.

Two of the most consistently great kickers over the last decade have been Lagat and Bekele, and in every race they settle in 3-5 place for much of the race and so they are in position when the kicking starts.

Andrews needs to learn this and so does Wheating (although he did OK today). Centro seems to have this down.

Robbie Andrews could kick you down from a lap and a half back. Dont pretend you know how hes supposed to race

There are meets all over Europe he can run. Remember, there are people from other countries trying to get either the A or B standard.

Good post toro. Andrews not making the team just doesn't seem like an upset.

Andrews not making the team in the 1500m in not an upset, but not making the team in the 800m IS AN UPSET.

The 800m was weak this year... you had Symmonds, then a 35-year old, and then a bunch of no-names, which is why Duane Solomon made the team.

Andrews would have kicked down the leftovers in a mediocre effort to make the team. Remember, Andrews ran 1:44.71in the rain at last year's NCAA Championships to be the 2nd fastest NCAA Championship performer of all-time. The kid can peform.

You need to strike it while it's hot. Look at Don Cabral. Once he started smoking fools at Penn, you knew he was going to make the Olympic team in the Steeplechase. He was just too fit not to. That was Andrews in 2011. He could do no wrong.

Perhaps the biggest mistake was turning pro and trying to get too serious. It's the classic over-obsess that gets an athlete in trouble. He should have stayed in rhythm with his teammates and class schedule and kept working hard and progressing to 1:44-low fitness by now.

I think what really threw him for a loop was Vig getting fired and forcing Andrews to play the pro card sooner than later.

I'm pretty sure he is gonna run 1:43 point this year if he tries. He's made a ridiculous improvement in strength and has only run one really serious 800 this year (two if you count his early season 1:47).

If the kid can run 1:44.7 off probably sub 3:40 fitness last year, he's gotta be able to blast one coming off a 3:34 closing in 53.

of course, Andrews did poorly at USATF nationals last year at 800m.

Andrews not making the 800 team is not an upset either.

The top three ran faster than Andrews' PR.

Plus Charles Jock had a faster qualifying time and made last year's WC team.

This was not an upset at all. The people that made the 800 and 1500 squad were the ones everyone expected to make it. Symmonds has been ranked in the IAAF top ten the last two years. In the 1500 he was beaten by WC medalist, a 3:50 miler, and a 3:30 1500 meter runner. There is absolutely no surprise there at all. "Every dog has he day", and Andrews day will come some enough.

Sorry I could not help quoting a line from Scarface 1983. I saw it last night on Netflixs. Its a great movie btw....

Robby ran a 1:45. That would have gotten him 5th in the olympic trials. If he ran his PR he gets 4th. He would have been one of 3 or 4 guys fighting for that last spot.In the 1500m, he was gambling that either Wheating and Centro were not up to snuff or that Leo had an off race (which has been know to have). Didn't happen.