We changed the title of the thread to make it more descriptive and less judgemental. The title was initially "Washed Hoare doesn't make Australian 1500m team."
If the selectors were applying the published selection criteria then the onus should have been on Spencer and Thomas to run faster than 3:31, not Olli "prove his fitness". It was a very similar situation last year between McSweyn & Myers. McSweyn got the nod even though Myers was in superior recent form. This year they've gone the other way and it seems that runners with a certain manager always get the close calls.
This sucks for Ollie but I think anyone who was following him was always a little uneasy with his spot, given he hadn't had an outstanding result to separate him from the other Aussies. It absolutely stinks that the selection process is so obviously biased towards Nic's athletes but it seems like this issue crops up for every team selection. My question is: why does Nic hold so much power? I really only know Nic as the coach of MTC and that's it. He coached some top Aussies back when I first started following the sport (Gregsons, Brett Robinson, Stewie) but it seems all the top Aussies are now training elsewhere so why does he still have so much weight in selection?
Quite ridiculous and not sure what the point of having nationals in April is, if it’s not used at least as a sounding board for a H2H comparison. Ollie beat Jude convincingly, and has performed soundly this year until perhaps the last few races. But no doubt pressure comes into this. I saw enough after the 3:31 earlier in the season, and then the DL in which he was tangled up with Mills’ fall. Say what you want but anyone who saw the race footage on YouTube which showed the fall from behind, knows that he was on course to run 3:30 - 3:31. Cam is the obvious standout, but it gets closer after that and you could throw a blanket over Ollie, Adam and Jude off recent form. But to me Ollie has the added benefit of being a CG champion, and having a 3:29 to his name 2 years back.
As a close follower of Ollie’s, I think he could do the following to solidify his place and improve as a runner: Improve form - think his gait has changed since being injured; Back off in training - From what I see in any workout vids in which he features, he seems to push excessively; Improve diet - Have a cheat meal every now and then, but learn more about nutrition and fuel adequately for sessions, recovery etc; Avoid gaming too much and prioritise recovery - The coffee club boys sort of make out that Ollie is gaming for 12 hrs a day, and the resulting impact on posture, sleep habits etc is concerning. Based on what I have heard, it is phenomenal and he is a once in a lifetime talent to be a 3:29 runner and CG champ based on his lifestyle (if the coffee club talk isn’t exaggerated!)
Keely ran 1:54 on August 16. She was plenty fit to do just fine at the British Trials on August 3rd. If you aren't fit enough to make a team in smaller country 6 weeks before Worlds, you aren't going to medal at Worlds anyway.
Nah, you're entirely wrong. I'm sure she could have run, but why risk your gold medal hope and have them run a race before their support team says they are ready? You say she was ready, but the multi-medal winning coaches of Keely Hodgkinson said she wasn't, and in a toss-up, I'm going with Painter and Meadows over the podcast contributor. And again, the drop off from Keely to Abigail Ives (third place at the champs) is steep - going from a gold medal to someone who doesn't get out of the heats.
But Rojo's point is, that in a world where she had to run in British Champs to earn selection, she could have, and she would have won given she ran 1:54 less than 2 weeks later. It's not a question of injury risk - every athletes faces injury every race.
The other thing I don't get about the OAC guys, is why aren't they hatching race strategies together so that Farken, Hoare and Nuguse can all work together throughout a race? Back each other up, or follow a move.
For example, why the hell was Hoare running off after the pacers in Silesia while Nuguse sat back in the pack. Nuguse seemed quite surprised by this move in his post race interview. Like...aren't they mates and talking to each other beforehand?
Quite ridiculous and not sure what the point of having nationals in April is, if it’s not used at least as a sounding board for a H2H comparison. Ollie beat Jude convincingly, and has performed soundly this year until perhaps the last few races. But no doubt pressure comes into this. I saw enough after the 3:31 earlier in the season, and then the DL in which he was tangled up with Mills’ fall. Say what you want but anyone who saw the race footage on YouTube which showed the fall from behind, knows that he was on course to run 3:30 - 3:31. Cam is the obvious standout, but it gets closer after that and you could throw a blanket over Ollie, Adam and Jude off recent form. But to me Ollie has the added benefit of being a CG champion, and having a 3:29 to his name 2 years back.
As a close follower of Ollie’s, I think he could do the following to solidify his place and improve as a runner: Improve form - think his gait has changed since being injured; Back off in training - From what I see in any workout vids in which he features, he seems to push excessively; Improve diet - Have a cheat meal every now and then, but learn more about nutrition and fuel adequately for sessions, recovery etc; Avoid gaming too much and prioritise recovery - The coffee club boys sort of make out that Ollie is gaming for 12 hrs a day, and the resulting impact on posture, sleep habits etc is concerning. Based on what I have heard, it is phenomenal and he is a once in a lifetime talent to be a 3:29 runner and CG champ based beattheheat on his lifestyle (if the coffee club talk isn’t exaggerated!)
Nah, you're entirely wrong. I'm sure she could have run, but why risk your gold medal hope and have them run a race before their support team says they are ready? You say she was ready, but the multi-medal winning coaches of Keely Hodgkinson said she wasn't, and in a toss-up, I'm going with Painter and Meadows over the podcast contributor. And again, the drop off from Keely to Abigail Ives (third place at the champs) is steep - going from a gold medal to someone who doesn't get out of the heats.
But Rojo's point is, that in a world where she had to run in British Champs to earn selection, she could have, and she would have won given she ran 1:54 less than 2 weeks later. It's not a question of injury risk - every athletes faces injury every race.
Ok, and my point is that the people around her, who work with her every single day are in a better position to assess when that risk of injury is lowest
Quite ridiculous and not sure what the point of having nationals in April is, if it’s not used at least as a sounding board for a H2H comparison. Ollie beat Jude convincingly, and has performed soundly this year until perhaps the last few races. But no doubt pressure comes into this. I saw enough after the 3:31 earlier in the season, and then the DL in which he was tangled up with Mills’ fall. Say what you want but anyone who saw the race footage on YouTube which showed the fall from behind, knows that he was on course to run 3:30 - 3:31. Cam is the obvious standout, but it gets closer after that and you could throw a blanket over Ollie, Adam and Jude off recent form. But to me Ollie has the added benefit of being a CG champion, and having a 3:29 to his name 2 years back.
As a close follower of Ollie’s, I think he could do the following to solidify his place and improve as a runner: Improve form - think his gait has changed since being injured; Back off in training - From what I see in any workout vids in which he features, he seems to push excessively; Improve diet - Have a cheat meal every now and then, but learn more about nutrition and fuel adequately for sessions, recovery etc; Avoid gaming too much and prioritise recovery - The coffee club boys sort of make out that Ollie is gaming for 12 hrs a day, and the resulting impact on posture, sleep habits etc is concerning. Based on what I have heard, it is phenomenal and he is a once in a lifetime talent to be a 3:29 runner and CG champ based beattheheat on his lifestyle (if the coffee club talk isn’t exaggerated!)
Yes i see this
I'll probably get downvoted to oblivion based on the demographic of his biggest fans but spending way too much of your free time sitting around gaming when you're pushing 30 years of age is no bueno.
But Rojo's point is, that in a world where she had to run in British Champs to earn selection, she could have, and she would have won given she ran 1:54 less than 2 weeks later. It's not a question of injury risk - every athletes faces injury every race.
Ok, and my point is that the people around her, who work with her every single day are in a better position to assess when that risk of injury is lowest
Yeah obviously, but if she had to run national champs, it seems like she would have been okay to run.
Hoare's last race = 3:36, Jude rounding into form with a 3:31 in Germany the other night. Probably in sub 13 shape also with all the class pace jobs on the DL circuit as of late
Quite ridiculous and not sure what the point of having nationals in April is, if it’s not used at least as a sounding board for a H2H comparison. Ollie beat Jude convincingly, and has performed soundly this year until perhaps the last few races. But no doubt pressure comes into this. I saw enough after the 3:31 earlier in the season, and then the DL in which he was tangled up with Mills’ fall. Say what you want but anyone who saw the race footage on YouTube which showed the fall from behind, knows that he was on course to run 3:30 - 3:31. Cam is the obvious standout, but it gets closer after that and you could throw a blanket over Ollie, Adam and Jude off recent form. But to me Ollie has the added benefit of being a CG champion, and having a 3:29 to his name 2 years back.
Yep Mills really stuffed it for him, that was the best he’d looked all season. Probably low 3:30 that race and Myers breaks the national record. Afterwards he probably focuses on training rather entering races out of desperation, he looked completely burnt out the last DL.
As someone else mentioned, criteria they use is completely inconsistent - last year the gap in form was way bigger between Myers and Stewy heading to Paris and Myers gets left off because of a poor showing at nationals. When it’s this close you would think they look primarily at season best and nationals placing