I am trying to figure out what Olympic standard means. Does the standard times apply to every country or is it just an American thing? I am confused because I know some countries like Iraq have had guys run like 49 seconds in the, so clearly there is something odd going on.
Can someone explain how it works?
It is a time or mark that an athlete must make to be in the olympics. Nobody can compete in the olympics that doesn't have the standard. It is the same in every country.
well then how do some countries have an athlete?
The Olympic "A" standard is the Olympic "A" standard, for every country.
The Olympic "B" standard is the Olympic "B" standard, for every country.
An individual country's standards are almost certainly different, usually lesser, then the Olympic standard. For example, the US "A" and "B" standards needed to compete in our trials are different (usually slower, but can be equal, though by a recent court decision not greater) than the Olympic standard.
If a country has an "A" going to the Olympics, all others from that country, in that event, must also have the "A".
If a country only has a "B", or several "B"s, only 1 "B" can go.
If a country has nobody qualified in any event, they can still send 1 male and 1 female, regardless of performance standards, for 1 individual event. Usually a 3 hour marathoner. Or in the case of Equatorial Guinea in 2000, a swimmer (Eric "The Eel" Moussambani) who almost drowned in his first (and only) heat.
if a country has no qualifiers in eany event they can send one person for any event of their choise. it's to help develop sport in low prolife countries
Explained well.
luv2run wrote:
Explained well.
thank you.
Explained well, except the part about the unqualified athletes, of whom a country with no qualified athletes can send one male and one female PER SPORT. (So Equatorial Guinea could have sent a three-hour marathoner AND an inexperienced swimmer.)
Also, you simply lied about Eric, who stayed in the sport and swan many, many more races. He was offered a US scholarship and could have entered a second Olympics to show his improvement, but ran into bad Visa trouble. His long-course 100m free PR at that time, :57, is probably faster than you can do, pal. (Unless you've competed yourself, in which case you should know some history of the sport. You're welcome.)
Oh, and Canada requires times faster than the A. How is that illegal in the US?
rupp-certified saladbar wrote:
Oh, and Canada requires times faster than the A. How is that illegal in the US?
You are confusing two different issues. Countries can (and Canada does) require standards higher than the Olympic A standard to compete in the games.
The CAS suit against USATF was about entry standards into the trials. Countries do not have to have trials and can choose their Olympic teams any way they want. This suit proclaims that if the US is going to have a selection meet than the entry standards for that meet can't be more strict than the standards for entry to the Olympics.