Say the Women's 10k goes:
Flanagan (A), Uhl (A), Goucher (B), Hastings (A)
Who makes the team? Does Goucher or Hastings get the third spot?
Say the Women's 10k goes:
Flanagan (A), Uhl (A), Goucher (B), Hastings (A)
Who makes the team? Does Goucher or Hastings get the third spot?
Goucher.
The USATF Championships, to be held June 20-23 in Des Moines, Iowa, will select the U.S. team for August's world championships in Moscow. In theory, the worlds team consists of the top three finishers at the USATF meet.
In practice, things are often more complicated. This article will explain what is needed, in terms of place at the USATF meet and qualifying time, to make the U.S. team for the four longest track races (1500 meters, 3000-meter steeplechase, 5000 meters, and 10,000 meters) at the world championships.
For the world championships, there are "A" and "B" qualifying standards. For a country to enter three people in an event, at least two of them must have the "A" standard. A country can enter one person in an event if that person has the slower "B" standard.
The simplest scenario at the USATF meet is that the first three finishers have the "A" standard. In that case, those three go to the world championships. This is how American sprint squads are usually selected.
In distance races, however, it often happens that one of the top three finishers--and sometimes even the winner--lacks the "A" standard. USATF has crafted guidelines to deal with such situations; they are laid out at the USATF site. Here's what would happen in the most common cases where the top three finishers at the national championships don't have the "A" standard.
If two of the first three finishers have the "A" standard and the other has the "B" standard, all three would run in the world championships.
If the winner of the national championship has the "B" standard, and only one of the second through fourth finishers have the "A" standard, then just those two would run at the world championships if none of the other in the top four get the "A" standard by July 20 (see below for more about the importance of the July 20 deadline).
If the top four finishers have the "B" standard, then only the winner would go to the world championships, unless two of the other top four finishers got the "A" standard by July 20.
In one distance event, the women's 1500, the United States can send a four-person team to this year's world championships. That's because the defending world champion--in this case, Jenny Simpson--gets automatic entry into the world meet, in addition to whatever other athletes that person's country sends.
USATF has said that athletes lacking an "A" or "B" standard have until July 20 to attain them. This grace period applies only to the top four finishers at the national championships; someone who finishes sixth at the USATF meet and then runs an "A" standard will nonetheless not be considered for the worlds team. The fourth person is considered the alternate, and travels to and runs in the world championships only if one of the top three withdraw from the meet. The longer the race, the less likely it is that someone chasing a time standard will get it between the national championships and July 20.
Runners can also get the "A" standard at the national meet, but this is unlikely to occur in the distance races. First, the races are often tactical affairs, with most of the top contestants racing for place, not time. Second, Des Moines in late June often has hot, humid weather that results in slower distance races.