Desi officially out of the Olympic marathon

Man, tough break for her.

I'm sorry to hear it. She's a great runner. It's a major bummer to have so many years of steady improvement without injury and to get a serious injury before the Olympics.

That sucks, but who was the alternate, and why isn't she running? Desi and the Hansons crew has known about this injury for a while. Shouldn't the alternate have been on deck, and ready to travel to London? Isn't that the reason why athletes like Paula and Desi are made to announce their intent to compete by a certain day?

At the US Olympic Women's Marathon Trials:

4. Amy Hastings (I think she would already be committed to the track)

5. Janet Cheromo-Bawcom in the 10000 (She may be more likely to jump into the marathon spot but if she focuses on her track event then you have...)

The woman in SIXTH is...

6. DEENA KASTOR in 2:30.08.

I would love to see Deena Kastor take one more run at it in the Olympic Games.

PS:

http://www.usatf.org/events/2012/OlympicTrials-Marathon/results/Women.asp

According to Flotrack, Deena Kastor "opted out of the Olympic marathon pool in June due to injury." So next in line would be Clara Grandt and Alissa McKaig.

http://www.flotrack.org/article/13792-Davila-uncertain

The rule appears to be that only the 4th and 5th finishers qualify as alternates. That sucks. I'd love to see Deena run again. Not sure if she's fit, or injured, or under contract to run another major in the fall. She may not be interested or able even if she was cleared to take Desi's place.

OH NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no no

She'll start the race, but drop out soon after. Alissa was next in line. Too bad for Desi, but by starting she makes some nice cash and, well, gets to say she was in the Olympics. Better luck in 4 years, I hope, for her AND Alissa....

It's a great con. She's in it to win it.

FogRunner wrote:

It's a great con. She's in it to win it.

Speaking of which, don't give up on Meb yet...just saying.

I don't see anything about it on that facebook page but the Detroit Free Press is reporting it so it's a fact:http://www.freep.com/article/20120729/SPORTS17/120729031/Rochester-Hills-Desiree-Davila-bows-out-of-Olympics-with-hip-injury?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Michigan%20news|s

Kevin Hanson emailed:

Per Hansons Brooks facebook page:

"In this postcard it is with great sadness that we must inform everyone that Desiree Davila has not been able to successfully overcome her hip flexor injury. After much thought and deliberation we have made the very difficult decision to not run the Olympic Marathon. The decision has been incredibly challenging and heart wrenching, but we feel it is the correct decision. I can assure everyone that this set back will only make Desi stronger and more determined for the remainder of her marathon career. We appreciate all of the support that so many in the running community and Brooks Sports have provided to Desi and the entire Hanson-Brooks Distance Project."

I'll try to contact USATF if there could be a replacement. I'm assuming not.

My question here is a practical one: Does she still get to consider herself an Olympian since she did the Opening Ceremony? If not, why not just run like 5k to say you competed in the Olympics?

I'm assuming the answer is yes to the first question but am curious. Also what if there was a replacement? Then how could all 4 be considered Olympians?

Apparently Deena is hurt, too.

That sucks.

Desi still plans to run, changed her mind. Detroit Free Press statement below:

http://www.freep.com/article/20120729/SPORTS17/120729031/Rochester-Hills-Desiree-Davila-bows-out-of-Olympics-with-hip-injury?odyssey=mod

Desi tweeted about 45 minutes ago that she is day to day and no decision has been made.

Wow, news to me! Just finished with team doctor, taking it day by day. Will do everything I can to get to the start. @Freep @hansonsrun

Interesting how USATF never published a list of alternates anywhere. Typical.

It wouldn't be Hastings, Bawcom, or Cherobon. The next would be Grandt, but I've heard she's hurt.

Mrs. M wrote:

She'll start the race, but drop out soon after. Alissa was next in line. Too bad for Desi, but by starting she makes some nice cash and, well, gets to say she was in the Olympics. Better luck in 4 years, I hope, for her AND Alissa....

With no credentialed athlete to replace her this idea takes traction.

If she ctossed the starting line she'll be a DNF in the results so she'll go down as an Olympic competitor-- not much of a silver lining in her cloud.

So if Desi had dropped earlier, would Natosha Rogers have gone to the games in the 10K seeing as Hastings would not have run the 10K trials.