Can't we all admit the obvious? Symmonds isn't in shape, knows it and wants to get kicked of Team USA as it's great PR

My thoughts exactly since the very beginning of the news.

I like symmonds wrote:

Clearly he's not in form. Credit to him for somehow winning USAs but his recent choice of races show he's looking for $$$ not times.

Clearly you do not understand the significance of running 1:44.53 in a championship final on June 28 after having run 2 additional rounds within 4 days to qualify.

I think he is in reasonably good shape.

Maybe he peaked for USAs for the sake of just getting one last US title, knowing he would be unable to hold that fitness for the rest of the season.

Maybe just making the team required peak fitness from him. He is getting older, after all.

Or maybe he returned to strength oriented work like most athletes for the 8-week (55 days) between his US Trials Final and World's Prelim. I mean, he's obviously fit enough to run faster in the 400 than he did, just not if he has had both higher volume and intensity immediately previous...

Small Peak - US Nationals

Strength work with over-pace work mixed in for, say, 6-weeks.

Major Peak - World Championships

been around ya' know wrote:Clearly you do not understand the significance of running 1:44.53 in a championship final on June 28 after having run 2 additional rounds within 4 days to qualify.

1:44.53 SB = zero chance of being a medal threat in a field much stronger than it was in 2013. Amos, Aman, Souleiman, half-fit Rudisha, these new comers like Tuka and Berian (if they make the final) are all in much better shape the Symmonds. He might not even be a threat for the finals.

I don't know about Tuka but Berian won't be making the final as he didn't qualify for Beijing (He was beaten by Symmonds at the USA Championships).

I like Nick, but he's taking this too far.

His stand is not going to get USATF to cave, and then claiming that it's even more of a mistake by them because he's in shape to win a medal... come on Nick. In shape to medal?? This is the worst we've ever seen him coming into a championship and the competition is tighter than ever... and he thinks he can win a medal??

To be fair, we don't know what kind of shape he is in since he hasn't raced in over a month.

And he won that race surprisingly as no one saw anything that he was in shape for that race.

And he's won a medal before so he knows what kind of shape he was in then and what it takes.

I also doubt he is in medal shape but I don't have any real idea

He's in 48 shape not 47.

Star wrote:

To be fair, we don't know what kind of shape he is in since he hasn't raced in over a month.

Actually he did. And it wasn't pretty.

He ran 48.53 on Saturday, August 8 at the Flotrack Throwdown 400 m.

So maybe he feels that he is on track in terms of his normal prep.

800 meter heats are August 21, 13 days from 48.53.

Oldsub4:

"if you are in incredible shape perhaps you come back 2 seconds slower in the second lap...so that your 800m is at average 5 second slower than your 400m. That is a rare bread that can even do that. Nick does his max 400m plus 4 secondsx2. 47 400 and 51.4 average 800m.....he might have one of the biggest anaerobic systems the world has ever seen. Seb Coe was 46.5 400 and 50.8 average 800 pace.....Rudisha 45 and 50.4."

So what are Nick's next 3 speed workouts?....

Anyone know if he signed?

Max S told him sign or stay home in no uncertain terms. Max even used the USATF stationary with Hightowers name on it to indicate he was finished with this bullshit pertaining to Worlds. He did leave some wiggle room to joust again on the sponsorship parameters but not on the Worlds team.

Symmonds is fighting pretty hard for all T&F athletes which is great, but what if he is fighting extra hard because he is out of podium shape and he knows he doesn't have a chance to medal at World's amongst guys like Tuka, Amos and Rudisha.

Leading up to Moscow he didn't physically sign the contract, but did it electronically and still went because he knew he was in shape to run well following London. He didn't run over seas this summer and the races he did run weren't spectacular.

Would he be figthing this hard if he was in the same shape as 2-3 years ago?

Just my two cents...

Yes and no.

He was still Nike in 2013 so it wasn't an issue. For 2014 World Indoors he was Brooks and made it a point to wear Brooks gear at the team hotel anyway and he says that USATF officials hounded him over it.

That said, Symmonds doesn't seem like he's in good shape and probably figured he could get way more publicity for himself by making an issue of this thing than going to worlds and not making the final or getting 6th. I'm not saying he doesn't care about this issue and athletes' rights, he clearly does. But he could have just repeated his actions from 2014 World Indoors and signed the contract and worn whatever he wanted at the hotel. If USATF tried to reprimand him he could say, "You never told me what an 'official' team event was."

Remember that time that he ran a 1:42.95 and got beat by a full 2 seconds?

Well he's not in 1:42 shape right now, that's for sure.

This will make my Top 5 dumba** posts of the year for 2015.