Was going to start a thread on this. What a joke. The Dominican women and Dutch ran some great legs, but USA should have put out a better team to make a statement and get a gold on the first day. Sure, keep Felix for the story line and her usual clutch performances. But we have a half dozen better women runners and could have swapped out one of them for the inexperienced Simon.
The problem wasn't Felix, she split 50.1, the athlete that caught her must have split 48x. Our anchor leg rigged and obviously did'nt know how to run with a big lead. When you have a big lead on anchor, you get out fast, relax and allow the other runners to chase you, then hold them off on the turn and power home.
Problem with this thread is that it rips on the runners who did toe the line and run the race. Goodwin and Norwood both split under 45 with Felix and Simon splitting under 51. Those are good splits for those athletes. The Relay coaches chose them to run the relay and they did. We need to quit dragging the athletes through the mud. By the way the Dominican Republic (3:09.82) and Netherlands (3:09.90) teams deserve credit for running well and like the US team defeated the defending Olympic Champion team from Poland.
Problem with this thread is that it rips on the runners who did toe the line and run the race. Goodwin and Norwood both split under 45 with Felix and Simon splitting under 51. Those are good splits for those athletes. The Relay coaches chose them to run the relay and they did. We need to quit dragging the athletes through the mud. By the way the Dominican Republic (3:09.82) and Netherlands (3:09.90) teams deserve credit for running well and like the US team defeated the defending Olympic Champion team from Poland.
Actually we are ripping on the team USA coaches that didn't pick the best athletes and we are ripping on the top athletes that possibly refused to run on this relay.
I don't blame Felix or the anchor leg, I blame the coaches. Simon didn't run bad, she was set up to fail because there was no way she could hold off DR and Femke Bol. The coaches failed her.
If an NBA coach put 5'6 Kevin Hart in at center and he gets zero rebounds, do you blame Hart or the idiot coach. Clearly the coach deserves 100% of the blame. If the top runners rejected a spot on the relay, they deserve blame too.
Problem with this thread is that it rips on the runners who did toe the line and run the race. Goodwin and Norwood both split under 45 with Felix and Simon splitting under 51. Those are good splits for those athletes. The Relay coaches chose them to run the relay and they did. We need to quit dragging the athletes through the mud. By the way the Dominican Republic (3:09.82) and Netherlands (3:09.90) teams deserve credit for running well and like the US team defeated the defending Olympic Champion team from Poland.
Actually we are ripping on the team USA coaches that didn't pick the best athletes and we are ripping on the top athletes that possibly refused to run on this relay.
I don't blame Felix or the anchor leg, I blame the coaches. Simon didn't run bad, she was set up to fail because there was no way she could hold off DR and Femke Bol. The coaches failed her.
If an NBA coach put 5'6 Kevin Hart in at center and he gets zero rebounds, do you blame Hart or the idiot coach. Clearly the coach deserves 100% of the blame. If the top runners rejected a spot on the relay, they deserve blame too.
Was going to start a thread on this. What a joke. The Dominican women and Dutch ran some great legs, but USA should have put out a better team to make a statement and get a gold on the first day. Sure, keep Felix for the story line and her usual clutch performances. But we have a half dozen better women runners and could have swapped out one of them for the inexperienced Simon.
The problem wasn't Felix, she split 50.1, the athlete that caught her must have split 48x. Our anchor leg rigged and obviously did'nt know how to run with a big lead. When you have a big lead on anchor, you get out fast, relax and allow the other runners to chase you, then hold them off on the turn and power home.
Didn't know how to run with a lead?
Come on. Do you coach by sayin "Run Faster"
She split within a few 1/10ths of her PR.
The issue was the 48 - 49 s that were dropped by the competition.
I agree that the team blew it. But other than Wadeline Jonathas, who finished 4th at U.S. trials, who would you replace and of the other women with? Because of the new rule, Sydney, Athing, or Dalilah would have had to run mixed relay semis and finals, all the rounds of their individual races, AND possibly the women's final 4x400. I don't know who you put in.
Isn't that what Femke Bol is going to do? I expect to see Femke on the the finals 4x4
I agree that the team blew it. But other than Wadeline Jonathas, who finished 4th at U.S. trials, who would you replace and of the other women with? Because of the new rule, Sydney, Athing, or Dalilah would have had to run mixed relay semis and finals, all the rounds of their individual races, AND possibly the women's final 4x400. I don't know who you put in.
Simon in the semis and Jonathas in the finals. Or depending on how long until their event, we could have asked individuals in the 400m, 400mH, 800, or even Abby Steiner to run the anchor leg.
This reply isn't getting enough love. Steiner would have been great, and is only doing the 200m (has split well below 50 at NCAAs). She could have easily been in this relay. Also swapping Jonathas and Simon would be sensible too. There was no need to use 400/400h and 800 runners. So not a valid excuse. USATF lacked creativity on this one.
the simple obvious call that was blown was to have Felix anchor. She didn't run the trial and with all the emotion of the crowd and her experience and competitive tenacity she should've anchored. Simon had too much pressure as anchor for so little international experience and ran a poorly paced leg. move her to 2nd and all is good and Felix anchors the win. that's your coaching mistake.
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