No O'Keeffe in marathon?

Being seconds off of Olympic teams for 2 different distances seems like Olympic material to me.

are you Olympic material if you can’t show up healthy to the start line when that’s the one thing your country is expecting you to do?

Why do people dislike Alistair Cragg? Can somebody fill me in?

So knowledgeable, yet angry.
There was genuine concern for Fiona the whole week that she was severely injured, and being pressured to run by her coach and agent. Let’s hope this all changes their approach to do what’s best for their athlete instead of what’s best for them, that is all. If she is at peace with this, that’s all that matters.

Wishing Fiona a speedy recovery and that we all get to see her back out there soon, she is a gifted athlete and a good person!

Hey racist rojo: Lokedi represents Kenya. You are thinking of Aliphine Tuliamuk.

Oh please. No one is trying to send anyone into "a spiral". If she is as fragile mentally as she clearly was physically, even a better reason to have turned over her spot to Jess McClain. The feedback on here has been tame and honest; hardly mean spirited.

I do think USAT should take the decision out of an injured athlete's hand but with a healthy number of protections for the athletes. Can't have USATF playing favorites. Need to 100% make sure a runner is injured and has no chance of finishing. Totally agree with the 2nd point -- seeing this stuff floated throughout this thread but am not in the know about their behavior. Point #3 isn't for me -- not gonna support something pulling money away from athletes. They should get the bonus if they can't start. That's what we should push for. Have them do press before an event/go to the opening ceremony. Don't want them to lose money if they pull out but agree that can't be the reason to start if they're injured. Need sponsors to work with athletes so it's not seen as a loss if they can't run 5k out of a marathon. Agree with the last point and said it earlier -- not all criticism here is being made in bad faith. Me saying you shouldn't have started doesn't mean I don't consider you an Olympian. When she's responding to the IG comments, that's not what's coming through. I understand her defensiveness of the whole situation. I don't remember other US athletes getting dragged like this- Kastor 2008, Magda 2008, Abdi 2012, Hall 2012, Des 2012. You can argue some of those but I don't think any made is to halfway. Kastor/Des were the most similar. But we know McClain was in Paris & ready to run. The Olympic marathon isn't a victory lap if you're not healthy. I hope she gets the support she needs & I hope steps are taken to interrupt this pattern of DNFs. I don't respect anyone more/less for running part of a race like this injured. I respect them for qualifying & for other past results.

Fiona O'Keeffe won that marathon.

People are talking about her more than Sifan Hassan.

Karen is trying her best to have the thread removed. If it were Noah Lyles no one would be crying. Cowgirl Up! Welcome to professional sports, she isn't a 12yo but an adult with terrible decision making skills. Look at her IG post where she calls herself impulsive.

And most people don't get too far in the sport lacking determination and a bit of capacity for self-delusion. You're thinking that you've had days before where it didn't look like it was going to go well, but it came together in the race anyway, because you started. Now it's the olympics. If you can just get to the start, maybe a miracle will occur.

The worst one was the British equestrian who was removed from the Olympics when a video of her whipping a horse came out.

I feel bad for Tsegay who had worked so hard for that "worst olympian" title, only to see it yanked out from under her by Fiona on the last day of the games

Tamberi having kidney stones or whatever has to be on the list.

Ana Peleteiro not medaling also.

None of Spanish 1500 men even making semis.

Jessica McClain (née Tonn) graduated from Stanford in 2015. Fiona O’Keeffe graduated from high school in 2016.

Why do you assume they are friends who could “work it out if money is the issue”?

One of the other problems with this situation is that her agent Alistair is also her coach. World Athletics should have a rule against owning both roles. A responsible coach might have advised her not to run but an agent might benefit financially from her doing so. When someone occupies both roles (which now more than 1 prominent U.S. post collegiate coach does) I don't believe the best decisions will always be made. Also more than a few on the US circuit have been talking recently about how toxic the environment is within that Chapel Hill group. For the sake of those athletes I hope this is untrue.

I'm just happy we're having this discussion here. Lamestream media is slow to say anything about it.

Jonathan Gault on X
@jgault13
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Fiona O’Keeffe’s coach Alistair Cragg said they’re still not quite sure what the injury that caused her to DNF today is, but he said she has been experiencing hip flexor tightness. Issue began a week ago.

The shoe companies could structure Olympic marathon bonuses something like this: reach halfway point in sub-1:20:00, bonus paid (obviously further incentives for better performance than that, up to medaling); DNF prior to halfway or fail to meet that generous time cutoff, bonus not paid.

Maybe this would function as an “honest effort” or “good faith” test for the athlete. If they knew they realistically couldn’t manage a 79-minute half on the day, they’d let the alternate have their place. If they declined to step aside for the alternate and tried to reach that cutoff anyway, even if they failed, they probably had a good faith belief in their ability to do it, since they’d be risking worse injury and jeopardizing their fall marathon appearance fee if they set off at a hobble on 3+ hour marathon pace as O’Keeffe seems to have done.

I'm sure it's a devastating decision to have to decide whether or not to start an Olympic event you worked your whole life for; I do not envy her having to make that call.

However

Shame on her, her coaches, and the USATF as a whole for starting that race. She limped from the first step. When the camera panned 2 minutes in to her behind that 6 hour Chinese marathonner, I busted out laughing. Embarrassing and a robbery for McClain. I would hold that grudge for life

Bol in the individual....totally disappointing.