Amy Cragg just denied Kara Goucher an Olympic berth

The teammate support was far more mental than anything else and probably didn't impact the outcome much. But I'm surprised nobody here has commented on the point when Cragg grabbed two bottles and handed one to Flanagan when she was really struggling. I applaud her for shouting words of encouragement or whatever, but physically helping a teammate by getting them their bottle goes a bit beyond that far more common practice of just handing a bottle to the runner next to you.

If one of the top 3 get injured, then Kara is on.

ck3237 wrote:

If one of the top 3 get injured, then Kara is on.

When was the last time that happened? I've been thinking about it and I can't remember. And not just in the marathon either. I can't remember the last time any US distance running Olympic alternate got to go because of injury - even though there's been plenty of injuries among the actual team (Hall, for example, probably Desi..).

Flanagan was crashing badly at the end. She couldn't walk or even stand up after finishing. If the race was a half mile longer, I don't know if she could've held it together. That said, Goucher wasn't really gaining much on Flanagan in the last 2.2 miles. Goucher wasn't in as bad a state as Flanagan at the end, but Goucher was definitely fading too.

Here's the mile splits from the top 4 women for miles 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, and last 385 yards:

Cragg:

5:40

5:34

5:39

5:50

5:56

6:05

5:29

1:14

Linden

5:34

5:42

5:36

5:42

5:40

5:49

5:43

1:15

Flanagan

5:38

5:36

5:40

5:48

6:00

6:02

6:15

1:26

Goucher

5:36

5:47

5:51

5:46

5:46

5:54

6:11

1:27

Link wrote:

ck3237 wrote:

If one of the top 3 get injured, then Kara is on.

When was the last time that happened? I've been thinking about it and I can't remember. And not just in the marathon either. I can't remember the last time any US distance running Olympic alternate got to go because of injury - even though there's been plenty of injuries among the actual team (Hall, for example, probably Desi..).

If we look at most of Flanagan's marathons, she fades at the end, her body just gives up. She gets passed. She runs hard and is near the top without question but her physiology no matter the training or on course nutrition doesn't work.

Boston line she will not medal with hard charging africans racing to the finish.

Whats a girl to do? Run the 10k instead, better shot at a medal.

Kara makes the team in the marathon. Kara will not make the 10k team, american women have improved and she's gotten older.

The women's field worked out pretty well: Amy and Shalane are training partners now; Amy and Desi were college teammates and are very good friends; no one likes Kara. So, we are ultimately sending the best group to Rio.

Goucher may still be on the team as she is the alternate if some one does not go. Injury etc.

Link wrote:

ck3237 wrote:

If one of the top 3 get injured, then Kara is on.

When was the last time that happened? I've been thinking about it and I can't remember. And not just in the marathon either. I can't remember the last time any US distance running Olympic alternate got to go because of injury - even though there's been plenty of injuries among the actual team (Hall, for example, probably Desi..).

There are those pesky contract clauses that pay for starting an olympic final/marathon that can keep an alternate from competing in place of a severely hobbled qualifier. Your mention of Hall is a great example.

Cragg did what was best for her. Having Shalane as a teammate is the perfect situation for her. That means a steady training partner and guaranteed someone to push her on workouts and lean on psychologically. Very, very smart move by Cragg. Plus a good chance Shalane will return the favor if Cragg is having a bad day in Rio.

I didn't watch, but from the description it sounds a lot like "Assistance" for which other runners have been disqualified. Does anyone think this will happen?

nycguy wrote:

I didn't watch, but from the description it sounds a lot like "Assistance" for which other runners have been disqualified. Does anyone think this will happen?

Assistance is if you get help from someone outside the race, like a biker on the course or someone on the outside handing you gels and such. Schumacher can't help Shalane other than giving splits and cheering her on. And no one can help the runner physically. If, for instance, Shalane stopped 200 feet from the finish, neither Amy nor Desi could run over and help her at all. I don't even thing they can go back over the finish line. What Amy did was grab two water bottles and hand one from a course supported station over to Flanagan. No assistance was given since it was both an on-course runner and from a course supported station. Kenyans and Ethiopians do that all the time.

If Amy were heartless or running with a different group, she may not have been so giving, but she wasn't going to let Shalane falter without at least trying to give her some encouragement. It reminded of the the domestique in bicycle racing. The guy or girl on the team who gets the water bottles an provides support for the leader. Amy continually grabbed water bottles and then shared or got two and gave on to Flanagan. It's an interesting dynamic there.

Shalane would have needed to DNF for Kara to catch her. Which looked like a possibility at times. I do think that if Kara knew how bad Shalane was hurting it might have given her that extra gear she could have used.

Personally, I would have rather seen Amy drop the hammer and not worry about her teammate.

I looked at the splits and frankly Kara gave it away. She either had zero chance of getting it, or she gave up. if she drops a 5:30 for the last 1.5mi, she reels in shalane and gobbles her up in the final turn (under that fake finish line). Is 5:30 hellacious at that stage of the race? damn right it is, but if you want to go to the freaking Olympics, better step your damn game up and lay every last bit on the line. Shalane did, and she's an Olympian yet again. Kara either didn't or she didn't have it. Either way, the better athlete is on the team, period. And don't even let me get started about that interview, geezus.

Wang Chung wrote:

You have to admire what she did for Shalane. But without that support It seems obvious that Shalane would have been caught by Goucher and may not even have finished the race. Like it or loathe it Cragg's behaviour prevented Goucher from making the team for Rio

Thank God. Guess that leaves one more opportunity (10k?) for Kara to strike out but still engage in a tacky, publicized witch hunt?

Do Flanagan and Goucher even acknowledge each other? I think Goucher was just afraid to confront Flanagan and kept her distance. That was her undoing.

Shalane wasn't going down to Kara no matter what. Sure, Shalane looked like hell and felt like hell but my wife said to me when the camera zoomed to Kara somewhere around 24 miles, "wow, Kara looks like you do at the end of a marathon" - her glutes were shot, she didn't have a free stride. Shalane was just dehydrated, but Kara was exhausted. Even if Shalane had run three 6:15 miles Kara couldn't have caught her since she only managed 6:11 for mile 26 and was a minute back.