This thread was initially titled, "Sydney McLaughlin Brussels 400/200". Update on 9/4. The Diamond League will NOT let Sydney run as explained here: https://www.letsrun.com/news/2...
WTF are we doing here? Are we trying to save a dying sport that can’t find a major prime time broadcast deal OR we just gonna gripe about DL rules and watch Athletics die a slow, painful death -stuck in the recesses of obscure streaming sites? Syd is the most dominant athlete going……so Run Syd Run.
She's currently she's 9th on the female athlete world ranking list - so not quite as dominant as you'd think. Maybe if she shifted her arse to come out & run more she might be higher up the ranking.
The exact wording of the rule from section 4.5 is below. There are two different requirements, one being to have competed in a Diamond League meeting. There is not an "and" or an "or" between the two requirements. It seems pretty clear to me that "and" is what is meant there, but it would be clearer if they had just included the word "and."
To be eligible and considered for a Global Wild Card athletes must: o have either competed and achieved a result in at least one Diamond League meeting during the season or competed and got injured at a Diamond League Meeting; o be placed in the top 5 World Rankings of their discipline, or in the top 20 of the overall World Rankings, or be the current World Record Holder, or the current Olympic/ World / Diamond League champion;
If "and" was meant to be there, "and" would have been there. Given that it is not, is a clear indication that it was not meant to be there.
You could say the exact same thing about "or" - since there is no "or" there it's a clear indication they did not mean "or" (especially since they use the word "or" in each of the two requirements, so why separate them in to two different bullet points if they just meant "or").
In any event, looks like we now have our answer - you have to meet both requirements to be eligible for a global wild card, and Sydney won't have met the first requirement unless she unexpectedly races in Zurich tomorrow.
WTF are we doing here? Are we trying to save a dying sport that can’t find a major prime time broadcast deal OR we just gonna gripe about DL rules and watch Athletics die a slow, painful death -stuck in the recesses of obscure streaming sites? Syd is the most dominant athlete going……so Run Syd Run.
It’s not the DL’s fault, it’s hers. She never races and it finally caught up to her
So it would seem the DL have had the last laugh & the poster girl for the new rival GST league can't just turn up willy nilly, having ignored the league for the entire season.
I'm still leaning into your thoughts that this was maybe to pave the way to Brussels announcing it was leaving the DL League to become the European leg of GST.
I mean - why else would they have her race in TWO events if not to "promote" the new system for GST.
Personally I don't give a toss about her competing - if she can't be bothered to grace the league events with her presence, why should she think she can just turn up at the final and potentially deny the glory (& more importantly) the prize money from those who actually put in the graft & show up to give the audience paying stadium something worth their money.
There's a reason why Mondo, Femke & Jakob are so well liked - they turn up!
WTF are we doing here? Are we trying to save a dying sport that can’t find a major prime time broadcast deal OR we just gonna gripe about DL rules and watch Athletics die a slow, painful death -stuck in the recesses of obscure streaming sites? Syd is the most dominant athlete going……so Run Syd Run.
It’s not the DL’s fault, it’s hers. She never races and it finally caught up to her
She's probably not that hurt about not being able to run in Brussels. The sport has way more to gain from her presence than she does - she's set for life already.
WTF are we doing here? Are we trying to save a dying sport that can’t find a major prime time broadcast deal OR we just gonna gripe about DL rules and watch Athletics die a slow, painful death -stuck in the recesses of obscure streaming sites? Syd is the most dominant athlete going……so Run Syd Run.
This IS how we save the sport. By making it known that you need to compete throughout the season. Sorry, but Syd running 4-5 times all year is NOT good for the sport. This tells her and everyone else to run the damned DL meets.
The same reason we had the big push for the World Rankings system into the Olympics. To make people actually run instead of everyone ducking competition and running a few times a year. THAT is what makes Athletics hard to follow and be part of. Only getting the good stuff for Olympics and WCs and every other meet wondering which if any stars will show up and race. JUST RACE.
I’m curious as to what has Syd wanting to compete at the DL Final when she’s stayed away from the DL in the past? Particularly doubling! Is it simply big paydays? Is she finally warming up to competing more?
Whatever the reason, the lack of co-ordination between Brussel’s meet management and DL management and Team Syd/BK is laughable. Give her a pass and let her race Brussels - however make it clear that it’s a one time exception. LET SYD RUN!!!
This post was edited 7 minutes after it was posted.
I’m curious as to what has Syd wanting to compete at the DL Final when she’s stayed away from the DL in the past? Big payday? Is she finally warming up to competing more?
Whatever the reason, the Brussel’s meet management and DL management fumbled the ball big-time here. LET SYD RUN!!!
Good to see the DL not making exceptions or rewarding athletes that skip 90% of the season, and instead rewarding ones that actually show up regularly for events.
It’s not the DL’s fault, it’s hers. She never races and it finally caught up to her
It caught up to her in the sense that it gave her another week off from racing. DL would need to raise money and increase the prize pool by a factor of 10 to make it really worthwhile to the best athletes in the world. Sydney could go on a game show and randomly pick suitcases with money in them for a better payoff than she would have gotten from the Diamond League.
WTF are we doing here? Are we trying to save a dying sport that can’t find a major prime time broadcast deal OR we just gonna gripe about DL rules and watch Athletics die a slow, painful death -stuck in the recesses of obscure streaming sites? Syd is the most dominant athlete going……so Run Syd Run.
I disagree. This is actually them thinking with a long term picture in mind.
The whole US DL tv fiasco resulted because they sold the tv rights to some foreign firm who just wants the most cash back - they don't care if it's flotrack or NBC.
Here, the DL realizes if the circuit is going to mean anything, you can't just let people who don't do the circuit into the final. I personally HATE wildcards for worlds and even the DL finale.
In golf, if you don't do the circuit, you don't get into the fedex playoffs. The same should be here as well.
I was particularly stunned tehy would go out of their way to help a woman who not only never races their circuit but who has agreed to become the face of a rival circuit next year.
And this is why Athletics will be in the dust bin of history. No money, and no common sense on how to get to the money.
ARe you serious? IN golf and tennis, where there is a lot of money, you have to play in the regular season. In the NBA, there are now rules against load management.
Do you think NBA guys want to play 82 regular seasons games, baseball guys want to play 162 games and NFL guys 17? No, but they do it as those are the rules.
I’m curious as to what has Syd wanting to compete at the DL Final when she’s stayed away from the DL in the past? Particularly doubling! Is it simply big paydays? Is she finally warming up to competing more?
Whatever the reason, the lack of co-ordination between Brussel’s meet management and DL management and Team Syd/BK is laughable. Give her a pass and let her race Brussels - however make it clear that it’s a one time exception. LET SYD RUN!!!
I think the reason is obvoius.
1) Get paid - she seemingly has no problem signing up for meets for big cash.
2) Wants to see how she stacks up against the best in the world in the 400 and see how she does in a double to get ready for next year's Grand Slam Track.