Jearl Miles-Clark Left Off 4 x 400 Relay

they'll pay the price and lose to the russians because they're inexperienced.

watch.

From a news report:

"It was an unfitting end to a glorious Olympic carrier. Two-time Gold medalist Jearl Miles-Clark was left out of the pool of competitors for the women's 4 x 400 meter relay in Athens.

Miles-Clark is said to be "devastated" by the decision. She had earlier said this fifth Olympic appearance would be her last.

Jearl had run on the past 3 U.S. 4 x 400 Olympic relay teams, collecting two gold and a silver medal. Miles-Clark has been a part of every U.S. 4 x 400 relay team since 1991. She is the wife of Lady Vols track coach J. J. Clark.

One Lady Vol was in the 4 x 400 pool; Dee Dee Trotter is eligible to run in any of the preliminary rounds of the event."

Though it's undoubtedly not going to change anything, I wrote the Craig Masback (craig.masback@usatf.org) to protest.

Does anyone know Sue Humphrey's e-mail address? Or anyone else we could protest directly to?

A move of utter disrespect for one of our greatest 4x4 relay legs over the last 8 years. To say that this is for the youth is cowardly. This is Jearl's last race. Shame on the coaches!!

But Sue H will run a doper in the 4x100. Hope it blows up on both teams.

Coach Humphrey (humphreyhj@aol.com) call the shots with Brooks Johnson (sutrac@aol.com) trying to be behind the scenes puppet master - but his month cannot keep him behind the scenes. On the women's side, Stephanie Hightower lords over Humphrey and other coaches - shigh1211@aol.com.

Isn't Humphry the same woman who gave Suzy Hamilton the wrong info at the trials? This woman should go coach rugby...

This really is a shame... I emailed Masback and Humphrey just so they know how track fans feel about the decision.

Here's the response I got from Sue Humphrey:

I understand your feelings and hope you will realize how difficult

decisions are to make. We had to take many things into consideration.

Jearl has done a fantastic job in the past. No one is denying this fact.

However, we also have many sprinters who can also get the job done. I

would hope you support our USA team even if you can't support our

decision.

Sue Humphrey

The decision to run Miles-Clark was not difficult. Sue made it difficult by not adding her to the list. Not only that, she didn't even include her in the 6-woman pool. Sue mentioned that Jearl has done a great job in the past. The reality of the matter is that she is doing a great job NOW. She beat Monique Hennigan earlier in the year in an open 400 and won another one in Jamaica.

Jearl Miles-Clark is a class act and one of America's most decorated 400/800 meter runners. It looks like she might have been pushed out because of her age?? Sue Humphrey and Brooks Johnson have their own personal agenda and should be ashamed.

Sue Humphrey mentioned that the US had a number of sprinters who could get the job done. Why leave off Miles-Clark, when she has proven year after year, that she can get the job done. This is very confusing. This is not the meet to experiment with! There is no other country that would leave such a quality athlete off of the team. They could have at least put her in the preliminary rounds. What are they thinking??

For whatever good it will do, I sent to Humphrey, Johnson, Hightower, and copied JJ Clark - jclark40@utk.edu. Be nice if she got a few hundred e-mails expressing thoughts about this decision.

Personally, I am very shocked and disappointed about the news that Jearl will not be apart of the 4x400. I know that it has nothing to do with her ability to run and it does not take a rocket science to know that her age plays a role in the decision of her not running in the relay. The relay will not be the same with out jearl onit, and you all should be very ashamed of yourself!!!!!

To take this away from Jearl, someone who I have personally seen train so hard for this chance, is perposterous. I can not believe that something like this could happen to one of our greatest runners todayu. It jus doesn't make sense. How are you going to allow another run who has not reached Jearl's level of fitness and experience on the track to take her spot. Something needs to be done NOW!

Forget how many teams she has competed on, her last Olympics, age, what she has done for the sport. If the coaches feel she can contribute during the prelims or final good, if not so be it. Support the coaches decisions and pull for the USA. Jearl should be more of a team player encouraging her teammates and offering advice on how to run/win.

guliford wrote:

To take this away from Jearl, someone who I have personally seen train so hard for this chance, is perposterous. I can not believe that something like this could happen to one of our greatest runners todayu. It jus doesn't make sense. How are you going to allow another run who has not reached Jearl's level of fitness and experience on the track to take her spot. Something needs to be done NOW!

Although it's not in our power to change things, we can certainly make our voices heard so that Sue Humphrey, Brooks Johnson, Craig Masback know how we feel. Drop a polite email to the folks just mentioned and let them know why you feel Jearl Miles-Clark should be in the relay pool.

Rumor has it Brooks Johnson wanted to push his own protegee which left Jearl out in the cold. How they can "dis" a runner of Jearl's quality is unbelievable. She has done so much for USATF over the years.

Swimming left veteran Gary Hall Jr. off the 4 x 100 relay and the team lost. USATF can't afford to lose more fans. So many runners are in their mid to late 30s. USATF is in effect dissing all of them by doing this to Jearl. They're saying "you're too old."

The U.S. Track and Field trials has always offered oportunities for the best athltetes to represent our country free from political influence. The Trails process has been the most equitable means of sending the strongest, and fastest athletes to the Olympics. Somehow politics has reared it's ugly head in the Olympic games. The ommision of Jearl Miles-Clark from the 4x4 relay pool is a travisty. She is cleary one of the best 400 meter runners in the World and her ommission is the product of political backstabbing. Leave the politics up to the politicians and let the best athletes represent our country. Clearly Mrs. Miles-Clark is one of the best!

I can't speak about the two women mentioned, but having seen/heard BJ a number of times it is clear to me that the combo of poor communication skills and BAD ideas is less than useful! Whether it be the swimming org., or USATF they are all governing bodies and as such like to do exactly that. BTW, who is in the men's 4X4 pool?