Real great call leaving Quincy Wilson off the mixed 4x4. What a joke. I don’t know what deadmon split in the final, but he was not impressive. Mike Marsh caved to pressure to keep Quincy Wilson off the relay. A fresh Quincy very well could have split sub 44 in the final. Just pure bs, usatf kind of sucks at its job.
full disclosure: mike marsh was a teammate and good friend during our time at ucla and with the santa monica track club. but i can say this with well-informed certainty: he is not one to cave to any kind of pressure as an athlete or as a coach. the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it? if they put quincy in there (who's only 3/100s better than deadmon on the 2024 list), fresh but inexperienced, and lose, then everyone would criticize with "if it ain't broke why fix it" or "go with the horses that brung you." we just got beat, fair and square, by one of the greatest relay legs ever run, male or female. get over it...
I'm sure Mike's a great guy. I think one of the main issues here is that he never anticipated that the NED would play the Femke Bol pokemon card. That completely changes the dynamic of the final. And you really need your fastest legs even if you're the favorite/WR holders.
From the macro view, regardless of whether we won the Mixed 4x4... or whether or not we win Women's Basketball, leaving Quincy Wilson and Caitlin Clark of the 2024 US Olympic Team is pretty arrogant of the Team USA decision makers. They're both good enough to compete in THIS Olympic cycle! It's not like they really need 4 more years to be "ready." Such BS.
Our best athletes should be on the US team regardless of "experience," politics, #muhfeelings, and optics.
full disclosure: mike marsh was a teammate and good friend during our time at ucla and with the santa monica track club. but i can say this with well-informed certainty: he is not one to cave to any kind of pressure as an athlete or as a coach. the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it? if they put quincy in there (who's only 3/100s better than deadmon on the 2024 list), fresh but inexperienced, and lose, then everyone would criticize with "if it ain't broke why fix it" or "go with the horses that brung you." we just got beat, fair and square, by one of the greatest relay legs ever run, male or female. get over it...
that's my story and i'm sticking to it,
cush
I appreciate the perspective. But I disagree with not subbing someone for fresh legs. Someone who just beat deadmon head to head. Why not take advantage of the US depth? Or if not that, why not run Wilson in the prelims? A gold medal was on the line and it just feels like we didn’t really take it seriously. Bol ran at worlds, why wouldn’t she run here? Prepare for it like a gold medal matters.
full disclosure: mike marsh was a teammate and good friend during our time at ucla and with the santa monica track club. but i can say this with well-informed certainty: he is not one to cave to any kind of pressure as an athlete or as a coach. the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it? if they put quincy in there (who's only 3/100s better than deadmon on the 2024 list), fresh but inexperienced, and lose, then everyone would criticize with "if it ain't broke why fix it" or "go with the horses that brung you." we just got beat, fair and square, by one of the greatest relay legs ever run, male or female. get over it...
that's my story and i'm sticking to it,
cush
Femke's amazing relay leg wouldn't have mattered if the US had run .3 faster. Deadmon ran a 44.7 split today. A mediocre performance would have put it out of reach, but he was cooked from yesterday. That's why it would have made sense to run Quincy yesterday and sub in Bryce today (or vice versa). It wasn't difficult to see this coming.
His ONE job is to coach the relays and he blew it with this one.
full disclosure: mike marsh was a teammate and good friend during our time at ucla and with the santa monica track club. but i can say this with well-informed certainty: he is not one to cave to any kind of pressure as an athlete or as a coach. the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it? if they put quincy in there (who's only 3/100s better than deadmon on the 2024 list), fresh but inexperienced, and lose, then everyone would criticize with "if it ain't broke why fix it" or "go with the horses that brung you." we just got beat, fair and square, by one of the greatest relay legs ever run, male or female. get over it...
that's my story and i'm sticking to it,
cush
Femke's amazing relay leg wouldn't have mattered if the US had run .3 faster. Deadmon ran a 44.7 split today. A mediocre performance would have put it out of reach, but he was cooked from yesterday. That's why it would have made sense to run Quincy yesterday and sub in Bryce today (or vice versa). It wasn't difficult to see this coming.
His ONE job is to coach the relays and he blew it with this one.
You’re right that Deadmon was the weak spot in the final. We don’t know what the coaches thought process was, but it’s a tough call to sub someone that ran a solid leg in the semis (and helped set a WR). There’s really no reason someone should be “cooked” from running one 400m leg 24 hours earlier. Not sure what Deadmons deal was, but I don’t see why the coaches would have had any reason to expect a slower leg from him.
the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it?
You don't want the WR in the heats, you want the WR in the final! The USA's biggest advantage in the sprints is its incredible depth, and Marsh threw that away by running out the same team 24 hours later.
If he trusted Deadmon more than Quincy Wilson, then run Wilson in the prelim and Deadmon in the final. If you don't trust Wilson to run in the prelim after his performances in Trials and Gainesville, why is he on the team?
For all the A-holes throwing Deadmon under the bus, STOP. Bad running shi.t happens sometimes.
Who's fault was it that the 1992 Olympic men's 4x4 team didn't obliterate the WR in Barcelona? Michael Johnson ran a 44.8 3rd leg that made it impossible for Steve Lewis to make up. The following year, one championship later, Johnson ran a 42.9 in Stuttgart.
The point is that there was a lot of controversy about including Johnson on the relay to begin with as he didn't run the 400m at the Trials. Some coulda, woulda, shoulda's, but he ran (with food poisoning) and helped the US medal. Deadmon ran and helped the US medal. This loss isn't akin to the US men's 4xx400m team, fielding it's best quartet, losing to the Brits at the 1991 World Championships. Get some fek.king cop on.
I appreciate the perspective. But I disagree with not subbing someone for fresh legs. Someone who just beat deadmon head to head. Why not take advantage of the US depth? Or if not that, why not run Wilson in the prelims? A gold medal was on the line and it just feels like we didn’t really take it seriously. Bol ran at worlds, why wouldn’t she run here? Prepare for it like a gold medal matters.
fair enough, though i would argue that some golds are more important than others, especially regarding this mixed event, which is why you don't see all the A-listers. 2nd guessing is part of the sport, and i don't know a coach at any level who hasn't been second-guessed. as someone mentioned, maybe wilson is being saved for the men's 4x4 rounds. i guess the main thing i took umbrage with in the initial post is mike caving into pressure. he made a decision, stuck with it, and lost. that's also part of the sport...
This post was edited 29 seconds after it was posted.
I'm sure Mike's a great guy. I think one of the main issues here is that he never anticipated that the NED would play the Femke Bol pokemon card. That completely changes the dynamic of the final. And you really need your fastest legs even if you're the favorite/WR holders.
From the macro view, regardless of whether we won the Mixed 4x4... or whether or not we win Women's Basketball, leaving Quincy Wilson and Caitlin Clark of the 2024 US Olympic Team is pretty arrogant of the Team USA decision makers. They're both good enough to compete in THIS Olympic cycle! It's not like they really need 4 more years to be "ready." Such BS.
Our best athletes should be on the US team regardless of "experience," politics, #muhfeelings, and optics.
Smh
If he didn't expect Bol to run, he should be fired for being stupid. Bol always runs both relays. She loves to help her teammates win medals.
For all the A-holes throwing Deadmon under the bus, STOP. Bad running shi.t happens sometimes.
Who's fault was it that the 1992 Olympic men's 4x4 team didn't obliterate the WR in Barcelona? Michael Johnson ran a 44.8 3rd leg that made it impossible for Steve Lewis to make up. The following year, one championship later, Johnson ran a 42.9 in Stuttgart.
The point is that there was a lot of controversy about including Johnson on the relay to begin with as he didn't run the 400m at the Trials. Some coulda, woulda, shoulda's, but he ran (with food poisoning) and helped the US medal. Deadmon ran and helped the US medal. This loss isn't akin to the US men's 4xx400m team, fielding it's best quartet, losing to the Brits at the 1991 World Championships. Get some fek.king cop on.
No. We didn’t take it seriously. Netherlands ran their very best athlete, one who has an incredible challenge coming up in her individual event. And we can’t even spare anyone who qualified for an individual event? Whatever, Bol earned it, but we sure made it easier for her.
For all the A-holes throwing Deadmon under the bus, STOP. Bad running shi.t happens sometimes.
Who's fault was it that the 1992 Olympic men's 4x4 team didn't obliterate the WR in Barcelona? Michael Johnson ran a 44.8 3rd leg that made it impossible for Steve Lewis to make up. The following year, one championship later, Johnson ran a 42.9 in Stuttgart.
The point is that there was a lot of controversy about including Johnson on the relay to begin with as he didn't run the 400m at the Trials. Some coulda, woulda, shoulda's, but he ran (with food poisoning) and helped the US medal. Deadmon ran and helped the US medal. This loss isn't akin to the US men's 4xx400m team, fielding its best quartet, losing to the Brits at the 1991 World Championships. Get some fek.king cop on.
They ran a sick Michael Johnson in 1992 because Danny Everett tore his Achilles in a 400 prelim and Butch Reynolds was serving a ban.
In 1991, they stuck to their rule. 200m World Champion and 1990 #1 400m runner Michael Johnson didn’t run the 1991 400m US trials, so they wouldn’t put him on the 4X400 that year.
Quincy Wilson was 6th at the 400 trials this year. He earned a shot to run in one of these relays.
full disclosure: mike marsh was a teammate and good friend during our time at ucla and with the santa monica track club. but i can say this with well-informed certainty: he is not one to cave to any kind of pressure as an athlete or as a coach. the team that ran today set a world record yesterday--why wouldn't you stick with it? if they put quincy in there (who's only 3/100s better than deadmon on the 2024 list), fresh but inexperienced, and lose, then everyone would criticize with "if it ain't broke why fix it" or "go with the horses that brung you." we just got beat, fair and square, by one of the greatest relay legs ever run, male or female. get over it...
that's my story and i'm sticking to it,
cush
Femke's amazing relay leg wouldn't have mattered if the US had run .3 faster. Deadmon ran a 44.7 split today. A mediocre performance would have put it out of reach, but he was cooked from yesterday. That's why it would have made sense to run Quincy yesterday and sub in Bryce today (or vice versa). It wasn't difficult to see this coming.
His ONE job is to coach the relays and he blew it with this one.
Nah mate, Femke was holding back here. This wasn't her all out because she will have to be all out against Sydney. Femke could have run 0.5s faster.
All of the top teams subbed in fresh legs today and they improved dramatically. They should have ran these 4 today, but used someone else in the 1st round to keep them fresh.