Good Thing Lincoln and Fam are at home on the couch

have to do it objectively, man. it sucks sometimes, but works perfect at other times. look at how the grits field their teams. there's always a squabble or three going on.

Agreed...but is it good for the sport in the USA?

A guy like Nick Rogers makes the 5k team in 2000. Great story. A guy who clearly deserved to be on the team. But he's maxed out, man. If we select Kennedy, Marc Davis, etc. we have a finalist.

Isn't that what it's all about? Putting the best team out there?

What has Dan Lincoln done this year to make you think he could have done better than Brooks or Aguayo? He ran great last year. Maybe if he had been selected to the team he could have done better. Maybe not. Here's what we know--he did not do what he needed to have a chance.

^

You're right. He should have peaked in June then ran like garbage here, just so he could play by the rules.

The system is fine, Dan doesn't need to "peak in June" to make our team. Lincoln and Fam both ran way too conservatively at USA's and paid the price.

linkin fan wrote:

I love our system of having the best 3 qualify on any given day, but you have to admit there are flaws.

I agree we don't always send the three athletes who have a chance to perform the best, and it is harsh (anybody want to discuss Dan O'Brien at the trials in New Orleans!), but it is clear.

The moment a panel starts picking athletes, you'd have a much larger mess. I can imagine the shoe companies, coaches, agents all having their say...no way. Qualifying standards to make the trials, then top three, it is about as fair as you can get.

First three across the line qualify, period. It's really the only way to do things objectively.

Once in a while someone unexpectedly gets left out, but if a favourite can't have it together enough to get top-3 at trials, wouldn't you question if they'll have it together enough to contend at WC/Olympics.

The double-peak is an issue, though. Some countries and other sports in the US deal with that by having trials either far ahead of the games (separate peaks with ample training time between) or very close to the games (ride the same peak).

I don't think that two months is such a problem, and it doesn't seem to be much of an issue for the true contenders, either (Goucher).

After reading all the negative comments on this year's steeple team I decided to go back and watch the heats on wcsn.com. I'm not sure if the people here simply looked at the results page and made assumptions or if they actually watched the heats.

Tom Brooks, who was just behind the guy who smashed his face into the barrier, ended up completely flipping over the same barrier. He got up quickly and made a big effort to get back with the pack but in the end could not get back in the race.

Josh McAdams took the lead in his heat with 500m to go and held it until about 200m to go. He went with the guy who passed him and remained in second place until the final barrier at which he stumbled after landing. While he did not fall, the stumble resulted in a loss of three places within the last 50m or so.

I think if you watch the heats you will see the unfortunate bad luck of Brooks and the pure guts of McAdams. Who can say what would have happened if Lincoln or Fam were there instead? Cut the speculation and appreciate the efforts of OUR athletes.

Right on. They were selected fairly, I agree.

I also agree with those saying that their performances were horrible, because they were, but they had every right to be there while Fam and Lincoln had noce.

Wyatt Lining hits the nail on the head. Watch the heats yourself, especially McAdams.

Furthermore, the fault doesn't lie with the people who make the team--if anything, criticize the selection criteria, or the people who didn't put themselves in the best position to make the team. But not Brooks, Aguayo, or McAdams.

The result is it is the first time in history no American steeplechase runner has even made the semis.

In the past *Broe and Lincoln at least guaranteed the US would have a finalist in this event. For some reason the three best US steeplechase runners had a bad day at the trials. Lets be honest Lincoln has a new career in medicine. It would take a super human effort to do both medicine and track. This is a shame because Slattery was starting to come around. However, you cannot bitch about a system that has been in place for years. Our top three guys just did not have it at the trials. It is amazing how one bad World Championship can put the US back in crisis mode in a certain distance event.

*Broe was a 8:15 steeplechase runner before he broke his foot and when up to the 5K.

BTW this is the kind of bullshit you get into when you let committees make the selections and not athletes: http://sport.guardian.co.uk/athletics/story/0,,2153491,00.html

Mr. Obvious wrote:

What has Dan Lincoln done this year to make you think he could have done better than Brooks or Aguayo? He ran great last year. Maybe if he had been selected to the team he could have done better. Maybe not. Here's what we know--he did not do what he needed to have a chance.

we can't let people in on their reputations alone. lincoln obviously has a pretty full life right now. he (apparently) gambled that he could make the team without even racing before nationals (IIRC, correct me if wrong). at any rate, he wasn't in the shape he needed to be. how could we count on him to be in shape for the WC?

fam is a slightly different story but he has been dabbling with other events quite a bit.

as for this whole "peak in june" crap. i don't see kara goucher having much trouble. i don't think we'll see alan webb have much trouble. and so on. there's no reason that an athlete can't run very well in june and then run very well two months later. anyone with a coach of any worth - lincoln certainly has that but maybe the self-coached fam had trouble with this - knows how to get this accomplished. lame excuse. at any rate, a guy holding the american record doesn't need to be in peak shape to get into the top 3. that's just silly.

Lincoln in top form would make the finals and would place in the top six. It would be the kind of performance that Bob Kennedy gave in the Olympic 5K finals.

OK, so we should just cancel trials and select based on reputation. Super.

Why don't you just go ahead and give him a medal? Make it a gold.

Better yet, why don't you stop using his name as I doubt he's looking for excuses or entitlements - he's shown himself to be a true competitor too many times for that.

watch more closely, McAdams was fading to 4th. he stumbled because he was tired, don't make it sound like anyone in that situation would have stumbled

No..., most of the time the trial system works fine. Sometimes strange things happen.