Gabriele Anderson Is Re-Instated

Maybe the USATF shouldn't put people into finals or press conferences until the results are official and all appeals have been finalized.

I just received a call (at 12:27 pm Pacific time) from Justin Grunewald, Gabriele Anderson's fiance, and he has told me that Anderson's DQ has been reversed and she is in the final.

Grunewald told me. "She in. There is a God in track and field afterall."

In an earlier conversation with Grunewald, he said the USATF has a dropbox website (that is password protected) that has lot of video coverage of races not available to the public. He said that there was an overhead view of the race that showed what lanes people were running in and you could see that Anderson hadn't done anything worthy of a DQ. LetsRun.com is hoping to see the video later today so we can provide you an account of what it showed.

I asked Gruenewald if this meant Alice Schdmidt was out of the final and he said he didn't know anything about Schdmidt. He just knew that Anderson was in the final.

I don't see how Schmidt can be in the final.

She was in front of the allegedly foul. She wasn't affected by anything.

As an anonymous person in the house just said, "It would be ludicrous to put Alice Schmidt in the final."

I think Amy Mortimer would have the better argument for being put into the final if she was affected by anything.

However I think if Anderson is in, she should be in and Mortimer and Schmidt out.

I see no rationale for Schmidt being in the final.

If Anderson is not DQ'ed, then there is no reason to advance Schmidt to the final. Absolutely no valid reason at all. If Schmidt is in the final, then this reeks of even worse Nike influence than the original DQ would have. Now it would just be arbitrarily moving the 6th place finisher from Heat 1 (Schmidt) into the final.

If there is a DQ, Schmidt moves to 5th place in her heat and is an automatic qualifier. Mortimer finished behind her and does not qualify. However, it seems that if there is no DQ, Anderson gets her spot and Schmidt is out. Why would a 13th qualifer be put in if there is no DQ? However, if a specific person doesn't qualify because they were hindered from doing so, I believe they can try to petition their way in. I had to do this in 1996 when I was tripped on the final straightaway. In this case, though, it looks like the determination was that there was no foul.

That same overhead view showed her pushing both arms ahead of her to create space between the two runners that were pinching in on her. No one went down, but she clearly made space for herself with her arms, not her torso, and pulled back on them when she did that. It may be aggressive European racing, but bottom line is she was a step too late in not letting Mortimer cut in on her for the turn. If her hips and shoulders were there, Amy could not have cut in.

I'm glad Gabriele is back in the final, but she clearly pushed people out of the way to make space. Since no one went down perhaps this doesn't warrant a foul.

I will make the counterargument for why Schmidt should be in the final. Let me say in advance I don't agree with this argument though.

Anderson was DQ'd for breaking a rule (supposedly), and so she no longer has a place in the results. The rules state that the top 5 from each heat advance to the finals. With Anderson removed from the results, Schmidt now qualified for the finals as one of the top 5 automatic qualifiers. The issue of whether Mortimer was fouled is a different issue from whether Anderson broke a rule, and just because Anderson broke a rule doesn't mean Mortimer was fouled enough to advance (so the argument goes).

Once Anderson was reinstated, it would be unfair to tell Schmidt that she is now out again, so even though she is back to 6th place in the semi-final results, equity says she should run because she was told she would be in the final. This part of the argument I really don't agree with, but that is one argument.

They DQ a cancer survivor knowing that there will be public outcry and they'll eventually reinstate her. But in the meantime they find a way to get another Nike athlete into the final and make things that much more difficult for Adidas and New Balance athletes Uceny and Simpson.

Oh the power of Nike.

Mike M wrote:

Once Anderson was reinstated, it would be unfair to tell Schmidt that she is now out again, so even though she is back to 6th place in the semi-final results, equity says she should run because she was told she would be in the final. This part of the argument I really don't agree with, but that is one argument.

If that is the reason Schmidt gets to stay in, that is the lamest excuse I have ever heard.

Schmidt has shown to be a very classy lady and one would hope she would decline this "gift" if it is offered to her.

rojo wrote:

In an earlier conversation with Grunewald, he said the USATF has a dropbox website (that is password protected) that has lot of video coverage of races not available to the public. He said that there was an overhead view of the race that showed what lanes people were running in and you could see that Anderson hadn't done anything worthy of a DQ. LetsRun.com is hoping to see the video later today so we can provide you an account of what it showed.

Presumably this video coverage was available before the decision was made to DQ Anderson in the first place. This reversal just adds more fuel to the fire.

Really, USTAF needs to get their act together.

Ruth Wysocki wrote:

If there is a DQ, Schmidt moves to 5th place in her heat and is an automatic qualifier. Mortimer finished behind her and does not qualify. However, it seems that if there is no DQ, Anderson gets her spot and Schmidt is out. Why would a 13th qualifer be put in if there is no DQ? However, if a specific person doesn't qualify because they were hindered from doing so, I believe they can try to petition their way in. I had to do this in 1996 when I was tripped on the final straightaway. In this case, though, it looks like the determination was that there was no foul.

Is it possible they had already told Schmidt she was in and they are not going to break her heart by telling her now that she isn't in after all?

And bless you Ruth, you are really too classy to be on these message boards ;-)

Ruth Wysocki wrote:

If there is a DQ, Schmidt moves to 5th place in her heat and is an automatic qualifier. Mortimer finished behind her and does not qualify. However, it seems that if there is no DQ, Anderson gets her spot and Schmidt is out. Why would a 13th qualifer be put in if there is no DQ? However, if a specific person doesn't qualify because they were hindered from doing so, I believe they can try to petition their way in. I had to do this in 1996 when I was tripped on the final straightaway. In this case, though, it looks like the determination was that there was no foul.

You would know better than I, but if they had declared the DQ and NOW Schmidt was declared a finalist, it would seem "bad form" to make her an "unfinalist" (if you'll allow me to use that term loosely). Is it possible they advance Schmidt because she was declared a finalist regardless of how the circumstances surrounding the declaration were determined??

There was a point on the last lap in which Schmidt had to chop her steps....along with one other runner...which she never appeared to recover from. Whether this has anything at all to do with Anderson, if Schmidt was truly impeded to the point of a foul or whatever I can't say since the video is not publicly available and I don't have it DVRd.

Anderson is back on the official start list for the 1500 final and Schmidt's name has been removed.

coach d wrote:

Anderson is back on the official start list for the 1500 final and Schmidt's name has been removed.

The results from last night have also been changed back to the original.

Looks like Schmidt is out.

Time to sharpen your elbows ladies! Anderson pushed her way through both rounds. Make sure to defend your space.

oh geez! Take it easy. This contact was joke... what a bunch of whiners. I have seen european and african races where people get literally pushed to the ground and the race goes on.

Should we start running the 1500m like a 400m??? ... and have everyone running in their own lane?

You still need to run fast to qualify... anderson is not the reason schmidt and others were outkicked by 5 to 15 meters.

The start lists now has 12 on it with Anderson in and Schmidt out which is the way it should be. Schmidt was in the final solely because of Anderson's DQ, when that is reversed, Schmidt is out. Just because she was told she was in the final (because of the DQ) does not mean anything.

Below is what David Monti from Race Results Weekly sent out. Since it's so short I'm just posting it here. Interesting how USATF is quoted saying 13 will be in the final when Schmidt is not on the start lists. I'm assuming USATF has changed its mind. "The jury of appeals has met and will be advancing 13 people to the final of the women’s 1500m, including Gabriele Anderson"

MILER ANDERSON REINSTATED AT TRIALS; 13 WILL RUN SUNDAY'S FINAL

By David Monti

(c) 2012 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved

EUGENE, Ore. (30-Jun) -- Heartbreak gave way to hope here this afternoon for miler Gabriele Anderson when USA Track & Field officials reinstated her after she was disqualified last night from heat 2 of the 1500m semi-finals of the USA Olympic Trials. She will now be allowed to compete in Sunday's final which will determine the USA Olympic team based on order of finish with Olympic Games "A" standard.

"The jury of appeals has met and will be advancing 13 people to the final of the women’s 1500m, including Gabriele Anderson," reported USA Track & Field official Katie Landry in an e-mail message to Race Results Weekly.

Also advancing will be Alice Schmidt who had originally finished sixth and had been moved up to the fifth place qualifying position based on Anderson's original disqualification.

"Thank God I'm back in the final," Anderson posted on her Twitter account.

Usatf contracts with Eagle Eye to all jury filming. They film every race from multiple angles and every attempt in field events, including cameras on toe boards. In this case, the officials spent over an hour reviewing the video from multiple angles, going frame by frame. There are routinely 10+ flags or protests each day, all meticulously reviewed using this video service.