I keep hearing people saying the world ranking is subjective. I don't think you guys know what subjective means. Nobody's judging athlete's performances. It's a completely transparent ranking system, with a table for points based on your time plus additional performance points for placing in highly competitive meets. The performance points system is also completely transparent and based on specific criteria for meet competitiveness. And if you want to bypass all of the uncertainty of whether someone else will run faster and bump you off the list, you can simply run a really fast time. Nine other Americans chose this route.
There's definitely some subjectivity in the system as pertains to the bonus points awarded for the "quality" of the meet, but that's a small part of the overall score in the end. I think other posters have competently documented the various opportunities Wolfe/his coach passed up during indoor and outdoor season where he could have been in a fast 5k that could have got him the standard, but instead he raced elsewhere in a slower heat or in a relay or some such. Blanks simplified his life by chasing and obtaining the standard a long time ago. It's easy to say Wolfe shoulda coulda woulda done this or that in retrospect, but some of the meet/race choices he and his coach made look downright negligent from our perspective in mid-July. Particularly thinking of the day he ran on his team's DMR instead of a 5,000 race that ended up being pretty fast.
I doubt Parker Wolfe and his coach went into this season thinking about what they needed to qualify for the Olympics. Until the NCAA outdoor he was a long shot at best to even make the final. Even after NCAA outdoor he was a long shot at best to make the team.
Good for him, though, finishing 3rd in a tough race. It's been a real break through season for him. He'd be a long shot to make the final. Then again he has been surprising people all season.
Physical properties and states of matter are objective. Law/rules are "objective" in the sense that they exist, and they are indeed written, but that says nothing about their merits.
Back to the fitness debate, you seem like the type of guy that thinks Jakob can only run 1:46 for 800 because his PR is 1:46. Same with Yared Nuguse. If a guy runs a 1:43 800 with 53/50 splits, he's not in 1:43 shape. He's in at least 1:42 shape. If a guy runs a 15:00 5k in 85 degrees with high humidity, he's probably good for 20 seconds faster in good conditions. It's hard to say exactly but we can say pretty much beyond any doubt that Parker can run 6 seconds faster than his current PR stands. My entire point being, all other aspects of the debate notwithstanding, he is, in fact, "fast enough".
Jakob could run 1:45. Wolfe can't run the standard.
But his PR is 1:46.44, so that's impossible according to you. He is no better than his PR. Same with Wolfe. Sure his 13:10 was in 80 degrees closing in 55 and beating sub-13 guys, but he can do no better.
You have be intentionally being obtuse at this point. You're telling me you genuinely don't think that with an army of pacers, wavelight, good temps, in Paris, and what have you, ideal conditions, he couldn't run at the very least 13:05 if not significantly faster? I'm not saying he's in 12:55 shape, but he is most definitely "fast enough" to hit the olympic standard, and if he had planned better he most definitely would be going to the olympics. You're telling me a tactical trials final is representative of his actual fitness? Give me a break
Rules are objective. You want them to be subjective so that your feeling about how fast somebody can run should matter. That is ridiculous.
Nope, I’m simply responding to your dumb post that Valby “met the standard” (she didn’t in the race she is running) and that Wolfe isn’t somehow in 13:05 or better shape (he is, which is painfully obvious to everyone except you apparently).
Btw, I’m not arguing Wolfe should go. “Feelings” have nothing to do with it. I’m simply saying the WA system is subjective and arbitrary. Wolfe cannot use a second indoor race to qualify, and it would’ve qualified him, but Blanks can use an indoor PR to qualify. It’s silly. Frankly, neither Blanks nor Wolfe met both criteria; namely, have the standard AND finish top three in the trials. Perhaps neither of them should go. But I have no problem sending Blanks now because the guy is in at least as good of shape as his 13:03 indoor PR, probably better. Everyone knows this.
Jakob could run 1:45. Wolfe can't run the standard.
But his PR is 1:46.44, so that's impossible according to you. He is no better than his PR. Same with Wolfe. Sure his 13:10 was in 80 degrees closing in 55 and beating sub-13 guys, but he can do no better.
You have be intentionally being obtuse at this point. You're telling me you genuinely don't think that with an army of pacers, wavelight, good temps, in Paris, and what have you, ideal conditions, he couldn't run at the very least 13:05 if not significantly faster? I'm not saying he's in 12:55 shape, but he is most definitely "fast enough" to hit the olympic standard, and if he had planned better he most definitely would be going to the olympics. You're telling me a tactical trials final is representative of his actual fitness? Give me a break
But his PR is 1:46.44, so that's impossible according to you. He is no better than his PR. Same with Wolfe. Sure his 13:10 was in 80 degrees closing in 55 and beating sub-13 guys, but he can do no better.
You have be intentionally being obtuse at this point. You're telling me you genuinely don't think that with an army of pacers, wavelight, good temps, in Paris, and what have you, ideal conditions, he couldn't run at the very least 13:05 if not significantly faster? I'm not saying he's in 12:55 shape, but he is most definitely "fast enough" to hit the olympic standard, and if he had planned better he most definitely would be going to the olympics. You're telling me a tactical trials final is representative of his actual fitness? Give me a break
Exactly.
And Valby didn’t “run the standard.” Not in the 10,000. She ended up ranking high enough with some other arbitrary things, but she didn’t actually run the standard. But I also have no problem with her going. She’s certainly capable of the standard and one of the top three in the US.
Valby ran the standard in the 5k and hit the ranking in the 10k. Her coach calculated both. She and her coach knew precisely what was required amd she did it.
Top 3 is not the requirement. It is the 1st 3 to finish with the standard. You should read the rules. You guys are really not making it easy to pull for Wolfe in the future.
Pecan run 1:45 but he hasn't. He doesn't get credit for it. It is only my opinion that he can do it. Wolfe can't hit the standard in the 5k. He didn't do it despite trying.
He HASN'T tried!!!!! for more than half a year!!!!!!!! What are you not getting about this???? He hasn't attempted any sort of fast or paced 5k since that early december BU meet, where, as I've gone over extensively, he was in much worse shape than he is in now
Really stupid of him not to give his all at the trials. Why would he not try? May as well have stayed home. Parker Valby had no problem. A lot of other people ran standards at the trials. I thought that he wasn't fast enough but now you tell us that he didnt know he was suppossed to run faster. A hood coach would have given him the splits and sent him out at that pace for as long as possible.
Wolfe is an inspiring runner and he put in multiple excellent performances recently. He is a human being and has every right to feel crushed at not getting to the Olympics. I will be rooting for Blanks, really admire that guy, AND Parker beat him straight-up in the Trials and it seems like that should count for something. However, it doesn't. Take some time to recover, Parker, and then onward and upward.
Although this post is a melodrama about Wolfe and third and fourth place, is that actually the issue? If Blanks could not go for whatever reason, wouldn't the next person in line be the one that had the standard even if they were in tenth place? How does this work?
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