Not to mention Bideau tried to sign Abbey after nationals and get her a Puma deal. Maybe if Abbey had taken that Puma deal from Nic she would have been treated "fairly".
I would think this is bad for Bideau, but he seems to somehow never be affected by scandals around his behaviour.
This is exactly it! Bideau is known to try and poach athletes and when they decline his offer he gets aggressive and try’s to blacklist you. If he doesn’t have control of the situation he’ll do what it takes to get what he wants. Clearly once abbey team declined he began to inform his athlete Georgia Griffiths of the criteria change (which I’m assuming is fastest time) giving her an edge in planning hence why she went overseas absolutely tyranny
The Aussie selection system is supposed to guarantee selection for the winner of the national champs. That leaves two slots available for shady selection decisions but the champ can assume that they are going.
Yeah, nah, only if they've run the qualifying time.
The Aussie selection system is supposed to guarantee selection for the winner of the national champs. That leaves two slots available for shady selection decisions but the champ can assume that they are going.
Yeah, nah, only if they've run the qualifying time.
I don't see how she can be left off unless he's hurt or tested positive. Are we sure she didn't turn down the spot? If you a) win the nationals and b) have the time, you are automatic.
I read this in some article from April:
On Saturday night (2) at the Australian Track and Field Championships in Sydney, Dubler was the one in need of motivation in the closing stages of the 1500m. Automatic selection for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 would go to those who won the title in their event and achieved, or had already achieved, the World Athletics qualifying standard
I pray to go they aren't punishing someone for not having the standard at the time but getting it since.
Can someone form Australia email me robert@letsrun.com and tell me what's going on?
1) Australia says that if you have standard and win nationals that's an auto Q for Eugene.
2) Caldwell wins nationals, beating Linden Hall and Georgia Griffiths fair and square in the final.
3) She wins Mt Sac distance classic vs a field of pros to hit standard, fulfilling both initial criteria.
4) Athletics Australia then at some point changes the criteria in secret, such that it favors Griffiths (who Caldwell beat at nats), an athlete coached by one of the national selectors/coaches.
That's so sketchy.
Also she literally just turned 21. Imagine having a 20 year old faster than anyone in the NCAA, beating women like Griffiths and Hall in tactical races, beating established US pros in style... and rather than treat her as a potential medal hopeful (she's on a similar trajectory to Laura Muir and Gabriela Stafford who went 3:54+3:56), they jerk her around like this.
Rojo, honestly just ask former Nic Bideau athletes why they left him. Numerous former Bideau athletes listed in this thread. Get Gault to ask them why they left.
1) Australia says that if you have standard and win nationals that's an auto Q for Eugene.
2) Caldwell wins nationals, beating Linden Hall and Georgia Griffiths fair and square in the final.
3) She wins Mt Sac distance classic vs a field of pros to hit standard, fulfilling both initial criteria.
4) Athletics Australia then at some point changes the criteria in secret, such that it favors Griffiths (who Caldwell beat at nats), an athlete coached by one of the national selectors/coaches.
That's so sketchy.
Also she literally just turned 21. Imagine having a 20 year old faster than anyone in the NCAA, beating women like Griffiths and Hall in tactical races, beating established US pros in style... and rather than treat her as a potential medal hopeful (she's on a similar trajectory to Laura Muir and Gabriela Stafford who went 3:54+3:56), they jerk her around like this.
1. Australia is saying you needed to have the standard before or at the national championship. It's fine print and a bit shady and confusing.
2. True.
3. True.
4. I don't think it was changed in secret, it was just left open for interpretation and the powers at be exploited it. Nothing worse than selection committees. They always fail and they're always doing the devils work.
On a side note, I don't think Caldwell has ever beaten Hall in a head to head. So that's false.
Correction. She has beaten Linden Hall, but not Jessica Hull. I always get the those two names confused and it doesn't help that they keep trading the 1500/miler records.
I don't see how she can be left off unless he's hurt or tested positive. Are we sure she didn't turn down the spot? If you a) win the nationals and b) have the time, you are automatic.
I read this in some article from April:
On Saturday night (2) at the Australian Track and Field Championships in Sydney, Dubler was the one in need of motivation in the closing stages of the 1500m. Automatic selection for the World Athletics Championships Oregon22 would go to those who won the title in their event and achieved, or had already achieved, the World Athletics qualifying standard
I pray to go they aren't punishing someone for not having the standard at the time but getting it since.
Can someone form Australia email me robert@letsrun.com and tell me what's going on?
The wording of the rule has been changed recently, so that the athlete must have the qualifying time prior to winning the nationals in order to achieve automatic selection.
At first glance it seems unfair, but the selectors have obviously foreseen a situation such as this, wherein, you have the 3 fastest Australians of all time at the distance (Hull, Hall and Griffiths), who’ve all run those times in the last 12 months, vying for a spot against the national champion (who is much slower).
Add to this, the nationals are run in March, and it’s often been the case that many previous champions are out of form by the time Worlds roll around in July-August. It’s one of the obstacles Australians face (having opposite seasons to the vast majority of the world), and it’s why many Aussie runners choose to base themselves oversees, which makes it harder for them to make it to national champs. This is another reason why Aths Australia has changed the wording of its selection policy.
Abby Caldwell is not missing out completely though. She has been selected for the Commonwealth Games in August. Which is probably a better introduction to major championship racing for a developing 20 year old athlete - or at least that’s what I imagine the selector’s reasoning would be.
In April, Caldwell was offered a Puma contract by Bideau which she declined. In May, Griffith then signs a Puma contract with Bideau. What percentage bonus from Puma does Bideau (Athletics Australia) receive for Griffith making the team that he would not have earned from Caldwell?
Can you explain why adding the word 'prior' mitigates the selection risk of having an earlier national championship? I would think 'after' would be a better way to ensure the athlete is in form for Worlds.
Abbey is missing out because she and her coach were fed very misleading information from NB. After winning nationals, her coach received an email from Nic the national event lead coach as well as it being cc'd to Andrew Fachney, the head of high performance, congratulating them on the win and asking if they needed help organising races so she could get the qualifying time and therefore automatic selection. Interesting to note Nic did not send this same email to other winners of middle distance races who also won and did not have the qualifying time. Also interesting, that the head of high performance wasn't aware of the criteria in his own selection policy as this misinformation was never corrected. Abbey went overseas, got the qualifying time in her second race and returned home to train, thinking she had fulfilled the criteria to get selected for world champs. Never before has the national champ who has a qualifier not selected in a team. So wrong on so many levels!
Can you explain why adding the word 'prior' mitigates the selection risk of having an earlier national championship? I would think 'after' would be a better way to ensure the athlete is in form for Worlds.
Exactly! She runs a PB in May but that's not good enough. If she had done it last year that would've given her automatic selection?
100 percent agree. She only missed the qualifier by half a second prior to nationals too. But yeah, it would be better to show form by getting the time closer to the championships. An absolutely ridiculous policy!
The Aussie selection system is supposed to guarantee selection for the winner of the national champs. That leaves two slots available for shady selection decisions but the champ can assume that they are going.
Yeah, nah, only if they've run the qualifying time.