Verzbicas's chances at 2016 or 2020 Olympic team in TRACK

SUPER BUMP.

would have to agree wrote:

The kid and soon to be man needs support, not hate.

Kid? Soon to be man? Isn't he like 20 years old?

Yea what was that all about? I saw something on a san diego running page

LV is Louis Vuitton, NOT that idiot Lukas verzfuKas (or whatever his name was)

This is a great point. The kid who beat me in the 3200 at the state meet was also a competitive swimmer during the school year and did triathlons in the summer. One of my former teammates was a swimmer growing up and turned into a great track prodigy. He made the varsity HS team as an 8th grader and beat the senior 3200 state champ over 5k sophomore year. Of course, genetics were a factor as his brother swam in the Olympic trials.

So, it seems there is something to this. Doubles, with swimming as one of them, might be more effective than running alone. I also wonder if cross country skiing wouldn't be as, if not more, effective than swimming as it works the entire body, is low impact, and pushes up max VO2 more than any other endurance sport. Of course, access to a pool is much easier.

I wish LV well on his return to competition. As someone previously said, his chances of making the Lithuanian team might be more than reasonable.

The 2016 Olympic 5000 team will be: Verzbicas, Fernandez and Webb (who will *finally* look really relaxed).

From available info, looks like his citizenship situation hasn't changed since he left Oregon.

He is not a U.S. citizen but can compete for the U.S. in the triathlon in all international competitions (including Olympics) under ITU rules, which only require that you've never competed for any other country.

He cannot compete for the U.S in track without becoming a U.S. citizen, per IAAF rules.

As things stand, he can compete for Lithuania in track but doing so would add an extra two years to any future attempt to compete in track for the U.S.

http://running.competitor.com/2011/11/news/verzbicas-citizenship-a-possible-factor-in-triathlon-move_42098

Could he compete track for Lithuania and tri for US at the same Olympics?

I don't know if there are any specific IOC rules against that kind of participation. Nothing would appear to prevent him from qualifying for each country.

Realistically, his big problem will be hitting the track qualifying standard, even if he competes for Lithuania.

trew fqtz wrote:

I don't know if there are any specific IOC rules against that kind of participation. Nothing would appear to prevent him from qualifying for each country.

Realistically, his big problem will be hitting the track qualifying standard, even if he competes for Lithuania.

How is that his big problem? The track standard should be the easiest of his issues considering his personal bests in highschool.

Must not have gone well today at the Turkey Trot.. .done a few hours ago and the LV PR_Machnie has yet to kick-in...

trew fqtz wrote:

From available info, looks like his citizenship situation hasn't changed since he left Oregon.

He is not a U.S. citizen but can compete for the U.S. in the triathlon in all international competitions (including Olympics) under ITU rules, which only require that you've never competed for any other country.

He cannot compete for the U.S in track without becoming a U.S. citizen, per IAAF rules.

As things stand, he can compete for Lithuania in track but doing so would add an extra two years to any future attempt to compete in track for the U.S.

http://running.competitor.com/2011/11/news/verzbicas-citizenship-a-possible-factor-in-triathlon-move_42098

Phil Hersh disputed David Monti's suggestion that LV could compete for the U.S. in the Olympic Games without becoming a U.S. citizen.

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2011-11-15/sports/chi-just-the-facts-verbicas-must-be-us-citizen-to-compete-for-usa-at-olympics-20111115_1_lukas-verzbicas-citizen-2012-olympics

I don't know who is right, but it makes sense to me that an athlete would have to meet IOC eligibility standards in addition to the standards of a sport's governing body (such as ITU or IAAF).

In any event, I'm interested to see how things play out -- starting, of course, with the Turkey Trot.

Someone posted that he ran ran about 25:10 or so for the 5-miler today

Thanks, makes sense. I saw the link and headline to Hersh's column but assumed it had the same info since it was published around the same date of LV's departure from Oregon.

And, for the other poster, yes, regaining the fitness to hit an Olympic track qualifying standard is the biggest issue facing LV. He has not shown anything close to that level since his major injury, and that includes today's 25:15 8k (though it was a win).

Gcol wrote:

Must not have gone well today at the Turkey Trot.. .done a few hours ago and the LV PR_Machnie has yet to kick-in...

A friend of mine brought it up in a convo earlier that he won the Turkey Trot today in a fairly decent time.

Not sure what the course is like, but 25:15 and a win would definitely be a marked improvement over the other races he's had during his recovery.

trew fqtz wrote:

Thanks, makes sense. I saw the link and headline to Hersh's column but assumed it had the same info since it was published around the same date of LV's departure from Oregon.

And, for the other poster, yes, regaining the fitness to hit an Olympic track qualifying standard is the biggest issue facing LV. He has not shown anything close to that level since his major injury, and that includes today's 25:15 8k (though it was a win).

Personally, I think a 25:15 5-miler is incredibly good. It's been about 1.5 years since the accident, and maybe a year since he was able to start training again. An injury to the spinal cord is something else. It's nothing like stress fractures, tendon strains, and other standard running injuries that plague most professionals.

I saw some of the videos post-accident and back then, I was 100% sure that Verzbicas would never run again, let alone for him to be running 5-minute pace for a 5-miler this soon afterwards.

trew fqtz wrote:

And, for the other poster, yes, regaining the fitness to hit an Olympic track qualifying standard is the biggest issue facing LV. He has not shown anything close to that level since his major injury, and that includes today's 25:15 8k (though it was a win).

No it's not at all his biggest issue. His biggest issue will be beating the guys who can run much faster than the standards. What's harder - running 27:40 or beating Rupp, Derrick, and Ritz?

He ran 14:51 to win a track 5000m six months ago. 25:15 is not better than 14:51.

http://www.runnerspace.com/video.php?video_id=90987-Lukas-Verzbicas-Wins-Mixed-5000m-Jim-Bush-Classic-2013

I'd like to see him make the comeback and run well for the U.S. in international competition. But my impression is that even running fans underestimate how brutally tough a sport this is.

0% he cannot even break 25 mins on the road, wouldnt even make top 15 in a d2 program