Unreal: Sweden refuses to take 1:58 800 runner to Olympics as she's unlikely to make final

She won the Swedish championships on August 29th.

What I found discouraging with this decision was that they chose Kalle Berglund, who DNF'd both Gateshead and Stockholm and (with a 3:37 sandwiched inbetween in Doha) then ran 3:49 in Tokyo attributing his lack of success to being over-trained and suffering some bout of mental illness: "The body has not functioned throughout the summer. I hoped and thought it could turn around, but it did not. It is due to a combination of overtraining and mental illness. I have not felt well this year. The mental also affects the physical." He was NEVER going to make the final this year, not in anyone's wildest imagination.

Lovisa would have benefited far more from this experience than would have Kalle.

Wet Coast wrote:

https://athleticsillustrated.com/the-lovisa-lindh-interview-being-left-off-team-sweden-at-tokyo-olympic-games/

Well, perhaps she can parlay her fitness in Brussels and in another couple of meets.....

Thanks for giving her a chance to weigh in. Such a damned shame.

Salvitore Stitchmo wrote:

Think About It wrote:

37th is Jamile Samuel?

Sorry I just had to even find out who Jamile Samuel is because I follow the middle distances quite closely and haven't come across this name before. Turns out she is a Dutch 100/200m runner so you actually have been looking at the 100m rankings and not the 800m rankings while giving your 2 cents worth.

I mean do I need to say any more here?

I've been familiar with Jamile Samuel for years. She is often shown on the YouTube videos by Lisanne de Witte, who is a Dutch 400 meter runner along with her sister. It's an interesting series of videos because it depicts the struggles and lifestyle and training techniques of the runners who are borderline world class. Lisanne and her sister often don't know if they will qualify for the lineup, or if they will be replaced in the final. They are very open about their concerns as each qualifying session and meet approaches. They take videos whenever there is a travel session, which is particularly interesting because you get to see facilities all over the place. The Dutch team have gone to Florida and South Africa, etc. The Netherlands training center at Papendal is often featured.

The videos show up about once per month and were very popular during the Olympics, because the de Witte sisters both made the team and gave a full walk through of the Olympic Village, along with filming their thought process before each race along with reactions during the race itself. Let's just say they were incredibly emotional and drained when the Dutch finished 4th in the mixed relay final.

The videos were previously in Dutch requiring subtitles but within the past year the two sisters obviously attempted to expand outreach. They speak excellent English and now do the videos in English.

I think Jamile Samuel was dealing with some type of injury leading to Tokyo. It was mentioned a couple of times in the videos.

Also I have to say that New Balance is an excellent sponsor. That really shows u p in the videos. The sisters are always receiving surprise boxes from New Balance with little gifts and the latest gear.

Well, as mentioned in the article, 22 of 24 semi-finalists didn't run 1:58.77, her best.

Zero of 46 ran that in the prelims.

So, in theory, should could have run the finals, then it is a matter of finishing top-8. She finished 9th in Doha - same level of competition at World and at Olys, give or take.

16/21 Swedish T&F athletes did not run top-8.

Past administrations in Canada did stuff like this.

Seems like Sweden made the right choice in retrospect. She didn't make the final in the 800 and she would have needed to run 1:56 in the final in order to medal.

Lovisa ran sub 2 in 2016 and 2017, 2.01 in 2018, 2.00 in 2019 and 2.03 in 2020. This year she ran 1.59,87 already 1. june, and several races around 2.01 later in june.

Definitely not good enough for a final, but with fair running early season she should obviously be picked for the Olympics. I feel sorry for her to not achieve her goal, she deserved that! Bad søta bror!

If only medal contenders or top 8 contenders should be allowed to championships, they would be boring to watch! She was right behind the qualification time, but she was ranked at 22, and Sweden should be proud to have her race in the Olympics.

What makes this even worse is that Sweden picked 3 men to run the 3000m steeplechase. The standard is 8.22 and the guys barely made it. Good for them, and a well earned spot, but who do the Swedish federation think they can fool to pretend they were top 8 in the final could-have-beens?

They didn't even made the final! Here are their results in the heats:

Sundstrøm (8.21 pb) - 11. place 8.29

Blomberg (8.20 pb) - 13. place, 8.39

Johansson (8.18 pb) - 10. place, 8.32

Far away from making the final. Were they picked because they are young? And Lovisa not picked because she is "not so young"? If you make the standard and are top 3 in your country, or is ranked high enough, you earned your place! Shame on Sverige!