At each water stop Galen Rupp chucked off his old soaked hat and grabbed a new one from his coach. Rules?

What a bunch of 'tards

Did anyone consider that Salazar probably vetted this equipment exchange with officials well before the race? The very fact that Salazar is so driven to win should tell you that he would never risk DQ by doing this unless he was absolutely sure it was ok. Especially since the action in question has to be done on live TV for all to see. I mean, its not exactly like hollowing out a book to stowaway pills to avoid customs at an airport.

So any shadiness falls on Olympic marathon officials. Namely if they told Salazar it was ok to do, but all the other competitors remained in the dark that you could do such things, than that strikes me as wrong.

I've pointed this out with the NOP doping allegations. I think there is good reason to believe Salazar told the USATF or WADA just about everything he was doing to make sure it didn't break any rules. For one thing Salazar was able to document many of those communications. My guess is the investigation by the USATF into NOP is largely a sham. It is only so they can save face to show that they are treating all athletes fairly.

Who's afraid of a new hat?

https://www.wired.com/2015/07/nike-ice-hat-ashton-eaton/

http://www.mycoolingstore.com/mission-enduracool-instant-cooling-performance-hat.html

ryan foreman wrote:

Did anyone consider that Salazar probably vetted this equipment exchange with officials well before the race?

They way it works in the real world if something like that is vetted --not obvious in the rules-- a ruling is made and "everyone" is notified about it. That way the option is available to anyone who wants to use it. That doesn't seem to be the case.

Coaches will soon have special coolers at aid stations with cool ice hats and other iced goes in them. How will aid stations manage all of these personal coolers? How does a coach know the right item from it is given at the right time?

The above creates a major logistical problem. I don't see officials allowing anything like that. Too complicated to manage.

The OP isn't trashing Galen. Isn't calling for DQ. Rupp isn't the genius behind the strategy, he's just the runner getting the ice hats. But, a new ice hat every 5k seemed to be a bit too Jeeves at the NOP ranch than an Olympic marathon. Quite the contrast to the E. African runners grabbing an OTC bottle of water. During the race the hat exchanges was questioned by reporters and required a visit to the 16-17 completion rules. That is the truth.

The issue we see here. Galen Rupp was given a new hat packed with ice every 15 minutes during the Olympic marathon. The hats, while delivering "refreshment", were "worn" as new gear the athlete didn't start in the line wearing. Rupp threw the hats off and then instantly was given a new one. Rojo called it "ghetto AC" and he's absolutely right. These ice-hats enabled Galen to have a continuous cool head throughout the race. All the talk about him being the best in the heat--well they had new ice hats for him every 15 minutes, so yeah, that makes sense now.

What else is allowable? Cold arm sleeves every 5km? Any gear?

So it's settled. We now know hat shaped towels and sponges are allowed.

/thread

What's next Mrs. Landingham?

Funny...we've all chucked hats or gloves in a race before...there's this thing that happens when the body gets hot and uncomfortable and we want to mix it up. I could imagine runners in the pack seeing Rupp toss his hat, and then follow suit because they're wanting that change, only to see Rupp with a new hat and theirs is gone for good. They'd be like, WTF? Where's my ice hat?

Another nice little Ensalda tactic.

I was involved with Alberto and the authorities so I have an exact account of what occurred prior and during the race. Alberto has told me not to divulge anything at the present but to keep it under my hat, in fact he said if anyone's going to pull a rabbit out of the hat it'll be him, whether it's a grey one or white one he didn't say.

Runrincerepeat wrote:

What a bunch of 'tards

Even if the ice was cooled who's to say that would work? Putting on a hat is not ideal for cooling off the body, even if the hat was in an ice chest.

Perhaps Rupp is so weak he needs these gimmicks? Or is AlSal and Rupp just crazy?

Alberto's assistant. wrote:

I was involved with Alberto and the authorities so I have an exact account of what occurred prior and during the race.

This is me:

trickyAl wrote:

Salazar is so brilliant, he even put on disguises at each aid station to hand off the hat/bottle combo!!!

http://i.imgur.com/WHxJxn3.png

Or is AlSal ... just crazy?

^THIS

Thanks!

Dr. Dray wrote:

Who's afraid of a new hat?

https://www.wired.com/2015/07/nike-ice-hat-ashton-eaton/http://www.mycoolingstore.com/mission-enduracool-instant-cooling-performance-hat.html

If that were the case I doubt they would have Travis Tygart handle any of it vs some intern still finishing (or applying to) law school. I have a feeling he gets paid way too well to cover-up a non investigation into what you must believe is non-doping/ cheating by the nop. But 7 pages into this thread and still don't know the rule.

...or wear singlets with holes cut out all over them!

I surprised no one has mentioned the anti slip water proof laces Galen had in his flats that not other Nike athlete was allowed to use. This allowed him to single loop instead of double looping. Genius

Reminds me on the 1982 Comm Games where Deeks was grabbing sponges each water station and wiping down his hamstrings. Everyone thought that was the secret to running a quick marathon, cooling off you hammies and started using the same technique during other marathons...turn out Deeks was just using the sponge to wipe off the sh!t from his legs caused by an upset stomach.

Is there any evidence that the hats were packed in ice? It seemed obvious on the video that the hats were rubber-banded to his drink bottles (not sure how so many of you missed it and thought the coach was handing them to him...though I was watching the int'l feed and maybe it was different) . Unless someone has proof otherwise, it seems hard to imagine that they were packed in ice or contained ice, as the bottles were just sitting on the tables.

me the thread, you the needle wrote:

The issue we see here. Galen Rupp was given a new hat packed with ice every 15 minutes during the Olympic marathon. The hats, while delivering "refreshment", were "worn" as new gear the athlete didn't start in the line wearing. Rupp threw the hats off and then instantly was given a new one. Rojo called it "ghetto AC" and he's absolutely right. These ice-hats enabled Galen to have a continuous cool head throughout the race. All the talk about him being the best in the heat--well they had new ice hats for him every 15 minutes, so yeah, that makes sense now.

What else is allowable? Cold arm sleeves every 5km? Any gear?

As I mentioned on another thread, his tactics are nothing new. We got baggies of ice from our team staff every 5K at the 50K World Champs in Doha last yr and the 2011 PanAm Games marathon in Guadalajara. We were sticking the ice baggies in hats, over our heads, in sports bras, and even more effectively down our shorts (!). I grabbed a new small water bottle every 5K and stuck it in my shorts so I had fluids the entire race. Even at the 100K WC, at the aid stations each country got their own tent and tables, and athlete could put whatever they needed there. Athletes were changing shoes and gear, while grabbing bottles/gels/etc and continuing to run. I want to say they even gave us an extra race number if we wanted to change shirts. You can do 'drop bags' at many of the road ultras as well.

As long as you're getting what you need at an aid station (whether handed to you or grabbed off a table), anything is fair game. Any aid from outside the aid stations is prohibited. The person handing the aid essentially has to be stationary.

If his calves were cramping, I'd be surprised if AlSal doesn't know about HOTSHOT.

What I really question is athletes possibly giving themselves an IV of saline pre-race. I saw a syringe floating in the porta-john before the '11 PanAm Games marathon. That was definitely the most shocking and eye-opening thing I've ever seen.

The Rio marathon hat was a precursor for when Galen goes for the WR, just to cap it off Al has told him he then has to wear one of these:

http://www.rehabmart.com/product/hot-and-cold-hypothermia-therapy-cap-33394.html

They're hoping the pollen count is low because they don't want to have wear the mask too.

Donger wrote:

Even if the ice was cooled who's to say that would work?

I'm pretty sure the ice was cooled, cause you know, otherwise it wouldn't be ice anymore.