Freweyni Hailu Lashes Out at Ethiopian Federation After Ridiculous Snub

Crazy stuff. I like our cut and dry system. Top 3, period (as long as they have the standard). Do we not send our best sometimes? Absolutely. But we avoid this nonsense. Even using two from the trials and having one discretionary pick can be filled with 'back-room' politics and favoritism.

Wait, she beat Meshesha by over a second indoors in the race where she got her indoors PR. She also has a 15-8 head-to-head record against her all-time and hasn't lost to her all season. They're last race against her this season, she beat Meshesha by almost 5 seconds, 3:55.46 to 4:00.17. The problem with going based off of Road to Paris descending order is that there's just no nuance whatsoever. Head-to-heads matter so much more.

ridiculous take; you want them to prevent a woman who's run 3:50 this year from taking a 1500 spot? tsegay is easily the best ethiopian at all 3 distances and should get a spot in any that she wants.

The real underlying reason is that Hailu left Tsegays training group late last season and this caused much resentment with Tsegay and her husband/coach who are essentially the leaders of the running group. It’s widely known that the big names in Ethiopian athletics have the ear of the federation when it comes to selection nomination. Hiluf Yihdego (Tsegays coach and husband) is a churlish little man full of his own self importance and unforgiving of those who challenge or leave his coaching group. Hailus omission from the squad is essentially due to to this.

Further evidence of his self serving attitude is hi and Tsegay refusing to allow any of their athletes to assist Letesenbet Gidey in her attempt at reclaiming the 5000m record at Berlin last year. Gidey has been nothing but supportive of her fellow athletes but it’s not reciprocated where Tsegays group is concerned. I’ve also been I formed that Tsegay is not well received by other athletes outside of her training group.
To punish Hailu for leaving the group is shortsighted and unprofessional. I guarantee that had she stayed and performed at the same level as she has this year then she would be heading to Paris as a starter in the 1500/5000m

Give me a break. You guys remain clueless toward running style and situational influence. Final times don't apply from race to race. Ethiopia understands that. They aren't going to waste a precious Olympic berth on a runner who sits back and risks nothing. That type is immediately overwhelmed in global finals. They might as well not have been in the race.

Frewenyi Hailu has no one to blame but herself. She apparently thinks she is running for a different country. Nothing she has ever done on the track translates to what she would encounter at Paris Olympic Games 2024.

The 1500 was berths were a given with Haylom and Welteji. The only question was whether Tsegay would pursue that race. She is 0-14 lifetime against Kipyegon at 1500 and never uses the correct tactics against Kipyegon. Her kick also suffers compared to what she demonstrates when Kipyegon is not in the field.

But you have to give her a chance if she wants it, based on the 3:50.

This video linked below is best evidence of why Hailu was excluded and why Meshesha was chosen above her as 1500 alternate. It is the Eugene 1500 world championship final from 2022. I always pay close attention to this stuff, with confidence toward what Ethiopia wants from its team. That's why it didn't require 30 seconds for me to remember this race and look for it, once I saw this desperate thread.

Notice the two lesser known Ethiopians at the outset. One is Meshesha, at the far outside. She drifts back initially then charges to the front, boxing in Kipyegon at one point, trying to help Tsegay's chances. The other is Frewenyi Hailu. She does squat. She drops to the absolute back of the pack and runs like a pathetic American. But I'll soften that to emphasize that fortunately not many Americans run like that anymore, not the ones who make the team.

If you don't think this type of memory influences Ethiopian selection process you are nuts. There have been prior examples when they always pick the more bold runner:

When you have athletes control who/how a federation selects, then that system is flawed. Happens with many countries one outstanding star.

I think the Kenyan system is better because:

1. No drama or complaints this year (as far as I know). The UK, US and now, Ethiopia, have all had athletes crying injustice.
2. Would've helped in the event of an Athing Mu situation. The US went from gold medal favourite to likely of ending up empty-handed. Makes no sense to leave the best in the world home in case of mishaps like hers.

Awarding Meshesha a gold star for ”...boxing in Kipyegon at one point, trying to help Tsegay’s chances” is just bizarre. That sort of positioning might have utility in the final 200m. but Meshesha executes the maneuver 40 sec into the race, struggling to keep pace and looking fully like a JV wannabe playing games and out of her depth amidst the varsity studs. Unlike Hailu, Meshesha clearly mismeasureed her effort and in such dramatic fashion that one might suspect she was pressed to do so. Perhaps the Ethiopian selectors remember Meshesha’s valiant “service” at Eugene 22?

Maybe your read of the Hailu diss and poster Hillrunner56’s (Borenstein?) take exist in some sort of superposition. For now, I'll side with the latter and--as a speedy Texan might put it--go on 'bout my business.

IMO, Haylom secured her spot on the Olympic 1500 team when she tracked Tsegay all the way around in Xiamen toward a big personal best. Hailu and Welteji were in that race. They did nothing. Haylom finished 5 seconds ahead of Hailu. When a prodigy does something extra special, it signals a heck of a lot more than when someone 5 years older does it. That's simply reality. The federation would be stupid not to gamble on greatness.

Welteji then ran another terrible race and dropped out. I remember speculating here that Welteji might be in danger of not being named to the team. She seemed to understand the sense of urgency. Welteji ran more boldly than ever before and gapped the field in Eugene, running 3:53 to defeat Hull, St. Pierre and Muir by more than 2 seconds.

It's certainly possible that Welteji is a favored athlete and received a talking to by important members of the decision process, while nobody said anything to Hailu. Regardless, I have no idea how Hailu thought she had done enough indoors to guarantee a spot on a team of that caliber. She ran four outdoor 1500s this year. None of them were special by Ethiopian standards.

The 5000 is another matter. I don't follow it as closely. Hailu may have an argument there. It was always going to be Tsegay and probably Taye. Medina Eisa is likely getting the nod based on a race last year that is superior to anything Hailu has done at the distance.

Eisa is 19 and runs from the front. Hailu should have approached this season with an understanding that the federation was going to favor the two teenagers Haylom and Eisa. Then work from there. Instead she seemed to believe all of her recent 4th-7th place global outdoor finishes would wow the selectors.

+10

She WON world indoors this year and has consistently beaten Meshesha in every race she ran this year, and she's the alternate over her. That doesn't make any sense no matter how you slice it.

well, you'd know if you were an actual kenyan, living in kenya. impressive ruse to have kept up all these years- i'll give you that much.

I have a lot of trouble believing that the top two plus one discretionary pick system avoids complaints of unfairness that plague other selection committee countries. If in some or even most events you take the third placer, but in a few you take a 7th place finisher based on past reputation, I imagine you'd get all kinds of people upset. I mean, someone of Athing Mu's stature could have jogged around in 2:19 without falling, and a lot of people would be clamoring for her to be given the discretionary spot because of her past results. The US system is the only good system for countries that have to make cuts due to having more than 3 athletes that could go in a given event.

This is a terrible take.

1) Did you watch world indoors? She won it.

The locks to me are Tsegay (I don't care if she's tripling. She deserves it and Welteji - 1st LA 355 and 1st Pre 353.

The question is who gets the third spot.

They went with Haylom who was 9th at Worlds last year and 9th indoors this year. She just got 4th at the Stokcholm DL losing to a no-name Kenyan and two Brits.

I think Hailu is the better pick. She's only run 355 this year but she won in Doha.

But in the end they went with the 3 fastest. Isn't that what they always do?

It's a JOKE she's not the alternate for the 1500 - although she is for the 5000.

The real truth is they egregiously did NOT do a women’s 1500 trial in Spain at their selection event for a painfully transparent reason. Tsegay was going to skip which threw out any chance of Haylom making the team. It gives me hope for the US as they will likely get 1 legit contender in the 1500 out of Ethiopia when it could easily be 3. No, I don’t think Tsegay will successfully triple. She got hurt doubling last year and barely made it to Pre this year. Something is likely to pop up.

My guess is Tsegay will do the 5/10 double in Paris. She has a much high chance to win gold against Chebet in the 10k than Kipyegon in the 1500.

Call me crazy, but I think the world indoor champion deserves a spot over someone who finished 9th in that race. Also noteworthy: Hailu has a 6-1 record against Haylom in the 1500. Hailu should be on the team.