Finally USATF stands up to Oregon/Nike: USATF refuses to protest women's 800 contact - Ducks moan and cry about it

a new era? wrote:

In the women's 800 heats yesterday, there was some contact on the FIRST lap

That should have been the end of it. First lap, get over it and run. But it's not about being the best fairly for the Ducks/Nike, it's simply about being the best.

Indoors, Hasay did get bumped on the last lap but again it wasn't about being the best fairly, it was simply about getting their way.

The irony is how USATF is behaving. They normally bend over backwards for Nike/Oregon but they don't run this meet. The iAAF does. International officials would have laughed at a request by Salazar for a Grunewald DQ, would have laughed at a request for a Bumby DQ with 1k to go and laughed at this.

So USATF doesn't even protest. If it had been a US champs, I'm virtually certain the Oregon girl would be in the final.

So I dont think it's fair to praise USATF, they were just trying not to embarrass themselves.

I know that she is going to Oregon in the fall, but isn't there yet - have they taken ownership of her already? Sounds like a cult to me.

Guys, get over it. Raevyn is barely out of high school and running against the best in the world. 800 meters is the shortest race which is not run in lanes.

When an 800m runner goes from HS into world-class international competition, the 800m becomes a tactical & physical race. International runners aren't as polite as US HS runners. International runners push, shove, and cut others off.

Raevyn is a tall runner with long strides and likes to run from the front. 350 meters into the race she had a group literally on her heels and she was tripped by a Kenyan runner who passed her on the inside.

There is no debate about those facts. It should have been reviewed which it was.

I didn't hear anyone want to disqualify the Kenyan. Rather the debate was whether to allow Raevyn to advance to the next round which, in the end, was never considered because USATF decided it was Raevyn's own fault.

If I was a runner, which I was, then I'd love to have my organization go to bat for me ... win or lose.

As Raevyn moves into her college career she learned a big lesson in running the 800 and knows that she has people at Oregon who will be in her corner going forward.

Oregon has a special training session on that every week, if you're going to tank and not make the next round just flop or initiate contact and you'll get in!

Whatever. You protest and see what happens. Worst case, its denied. I can see how some are upset.

OregonFan wrote:

I didn't hear anyone want to disqualify the Kenyan. Rather the debate was whether to allow Raevyn to advance to the next round . . .

This is the problem. There is no doubt that the contact happened between Rogers and a runner who crossed the line in qualifying position. Either that runner fouled Rogers or she didn't. If she did, DQ that runner and advance Rogers. If she didn't, leave the results alone.

The idea that you just advance everybody so no one is unhappy is nuts and gives people a weird sense of entitlement. And an incentive to dive to the track, which has happened in USA Champs/Oly Trial heats.

Wang wrote:

You protest and see what happens. Worst case, its denied. I can see how some are upset.

Exactly. That is how track & field works. Officials depend upon protests to start the review process. No protest ... no review.

Even though there are officials spaced along the quarter mile track, they can't see everything. Often an infringement of tripping, running out of lane or an illegal trailing leg in the hurdles has to be seen on camera, at times in slow motion. That official review process starts with a protest.

In Raevyn's case, USATF made the decision on their own that it was Raevyn's fault. Why not let the real officials decide? Then live with the decision.

If you watch the race what you'll see is Rogers leading running in the outer half of lane 1 and the Kenyan running behind her in the inner half of lane 1. The Kenyan made a move as if to pass on the inside at the same time Rogers (not seeing the Kenyan) weaved toward the inside of the lane. The Kenyan made solid contact with Rogers' leg/ankle/foot. This was clearly substantial contact that in some way caused Rogers to slow way down for the duration of the race. Was this a foul? Someone else on these boards characterized Rogers as weaving like a "drunken sailor". I was thinking about the dangers of passing on the inside - perhaps the onus is on the runner attempting to pass. But the contact was definitely not incidental though I suppose it may not have been a foul. Also, a DQ of the Kenyan would not alone have elevated Rogers into a qualifying position. I am still surprised that a protest was not made. Who has the authority to lodge a protest in this situation (must it be the USATF as the US's sponsoring organization)? If an athlete or coach wants a protest wouldn't the USATF ordinarily go ahead with the protest if there's any chance of the protest being valid?

I don't know how many guys on this thread actually bothered to *watch* the Goddamn race (I know most LR posters like to mouth off about stuff without any clue as to what they're actually talking about), but, if you actually *watched* it, and, better yet, watched the replay a couple times, it was painfully clear that the contact was completely Raevyn's fault.

She wobbled way out to the outside lane line on the turn, and then cut back in quite abruptly, all the way to the inside lane line, as she came off the turn.

She severely cut off the Kenyan girl on the inside (who had moved up on the inside precisely because Raevyn carelessly gave her lots of room to do so), and forced her to sort of jump in the air and give Raevyn a bit of a shove to get back enough room to stay on her feet.

Totally her fault. Not even close.

I hope this girl doesn't turn out to be the next Alysia Montano. (Sweet girl, brilliant talent, runs like an IDIOT.)

Anyone who protested THIS call was *really* reaching, and making themself look kind of stupid.

Better to save your protests for when you have a legitimate gripe.

a new era? wrote:

I can't stand everything about Oregon.

They remind me of a spoiled little kid. Check out Ken Goe's article, "The UO track program is unhappy about Team USA's decision in the women's 800 at the World Juniors: Oregon track & field rundown"

http://www.oregonlive.com/trackandfield/index.ssf/2014/07/the_uo_track_program_is_unhapp.html#incart_river

In the women's 800 heats yesterday, there was some contact on the FIRST lap. The Ducks wanted their runner put in the semis when she failed to make up ground over the final half of the race. USATF didn't protest and for good reason:

USATF wrote:

"Team USA did not protest the women's 800m result because we determined our athlete was at fault. Therefore, a protest was not appropriate."

Good for them.

I don't what you are making a big deal about, this was worthy of a protest and it was worthy of being turned down, ...end of story...nothing nefarious here.

Ken Goe is a on the Nike payroll as a propagandist. Nike has him at a newspaper and pretending to be objective and unbiased. But read enough of his garbage and it's obvious he's being directed by Beaverton employees.

whaaah, boo hoo. crybaby oregon

The cheating starts even before the "student" athlete matriculates at eugene clown kollege.

crybaby oregon wrote:

whaaah, boo hoo. crybaby oregon

The cheating starts even before the "student" athlete matriculates at eugene clown kollege.

Princeton doesn't have a satellite campus in Eugene.

But they aren't "living with the decision" - they are blogging about it and having their jock rider Ken Goe write articles criticizing the decision.

crybaby oregon wrote:

Whaaah. Boo hoo. Cry-baby Oregon. The cheating starts even before the "Student Athlete" matriculates at Eugene Clown Kollege.

Classy, crybaby.

Propagandist wrote:

Ken Goe is a on the Nike payroll as a propagandist. Nike has him at a newspaper and pretending to be objective and unbiased. But read enough of his garbage and it's obvious he's being directed by Beaverton employees.

Ken Goe is not on the Nike payroll.

crybaby oregon wrote:

whaaah, boo hoo. crybaby oregon

The cheating starts even before the "student" athlete matriculates at eugene clown kollege.

You know you are at the top when everyone wants to take shots at you to try to knock you down.

The cheating starts blah blah blah - cite one instance of cheating at Oregon with T&F teams.

a new era? wrote:

"Team USA did not protest the women's 800m result because we determined our athlete was at fault. Therefore, a protest was not appropriate."

Here is an excerpt of the role of US coaches in 1972.

"If there was an Olympic medal awarded for incompetence in the handling and management of US athletes, that prize certainly should have gone to the US coaches and officials, not to the German organizers. US sprint coach Stan Wright made a boneheaded mistake that prevented America's two best hopes in the 100-meter dash. The reason they were not on the starting blocks at the appointed time of 4:15pm was that their coach, Stan Wright, told them the starating time was 7:00pm."

Wright admitted, "it was my fault. I don't want to talk about it."

Once again in Eugene, USA coaches and administrators are not speaking up for their athletes. These positions seem to be more one of political prestige rather than advocacy for the athlete.

Isn't it IAAF and not USATF that stood up to Nike/Oregon?

World Juniors is not a USATF meet. IAAF is also sponsored by adidas