mwsss wrote:
No Drsssh you are missing the point.She WAS qualified for the first Olympic Marathon Trials for the 84 team.She was actively training for that race when I knew her.WHen the Olympic Boycott came down prior to the 80 games it didn't just happen the week of the trials.There were whispers about that being possible sixteen months prior.People were having to decide whether to keep training or get a job and get on with their lives. Not any easy decision when you had dedicated years of your life to chasing such a dream.If you don't understand how a boycott of the 80 games could have affected someones preparation for the 84 games I can't help you.How many people remember exactly what THEY did thirty years ago ? That shouldn't be an out for those who want to discredit her testimony.
I agree with you about one thing: You clearly can't help me understand how a U.S. boycott of the 1980 Moscow Games, which had no women's running events longer than 1500 meters, affected the preparation of a female marathoner for the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. In fact, the IOC did not even approve the inclusion of a women's marathon in the 1984 Games until September 1981, and it did so only by ignoring its own rule requiring that all new events be approved at least four years in advance of their inclusion in the Games.
I'm sure that I don't remember everything that I did thirty years ago. But I do remember that I didn't make the U.S. Olympic team. And although I did run in the Olympic trials -- unlike, as far as I am aware, Ms. Surdyka -- I would never refer to myself as a "former Olympic runner." That would be either a lie or a delusion, both of which are relevant to credibility of a witness.