Has an Olympic Trials 4th placer ever paid a two-event top 3 finisher like $20,000 to not double at the Games?

if any of these under paid broke a** athletes had 20k laying around and the option was posed im sure they would jump at the chance.

Star wrote:

What?

You think Jeneba Tarmoh would fit this question.

She tied Allyson Felix for the third spot in the 100. Felix made the 200 team and still didn't give up her 100m spot.

Instead of doing a run-off, they made some back room deal to give the spot to Felix, the person who already had another spot on the team.

Sooooo true! In my opinion, this was a kick in the ba$$s to track and field. We were there at the trials and people were so pumped about the possibility of a run off. There was tremendous interest in a run off, since everyone can relate to it (from elementary school).

It was really an amazing opportunity as NBC was hinting at showing the run off live the following day (or two), I believe a Monday/Tuesday.

When the run off was cancelled, this was the last time that I took either of those two seriously.

We constantly complain about lack of interest in the sport and there you go, BLOWN opportunity to get some serious interest.

Also -

The appearance fees you collect down the road at Diamond Meets or WMM Major Marathons for being in the Olympics is worth more than $20K.

London loves to tout it's April "rematch" of the Olympic medalists and they try to get as many olympians as they can.

I have to assume the diamond meets want to hold a 10K that includes as many competitors in the Olympic 10K (or 5K, 1500m, 100m, whatever).

Also, in my post above, I forgot sprinters

Carmelita Jeter, Sanya Richards-Ross, Walter Dix,

They too have doubled in the Olympics.

Michael Phelps finished second at the 2004 OTs in the 200 back and ended up giving up his spot to Bryce Hunt. Doubt there was a payoff though.

Didn't Will Leer essential decide not to bother with the 5000m at the 2013 USATF championships in Des Moines because of the heat, only to despair at the sight of 9 men jogging through an opening 5:20 mile?

Precious Roy wrote:

No healthy athlete would give up a chance to double no matter how bad the odds against them are. Championship 5k/10ks can be toss ups. When the pace is slow and super tactical, it can be possible for a lesser athlete to sneak a medal with a well timed big kick. If the pass is torrid from the gun (rare with the women), it can be possible to pick off a few top runners who tank and get a medal. No athlete is going to give up a shot at a medal, no matter how remote the chances are.

Precious Roy wrote:

No healthy athlete would give up a chance to double no matter how bad the odds against them are. Championship 5k/10ks can be toss ups. When the pace is slow and super tactical, it can be possible for a lesser athlete to sneak a medal with a well timed big kick. If the pass is torrid from the gun (rare with the women), it can be possible to pick off a few top runners who tank and get a medal. No athlete is going to give up a shot at a medal, no matter how remote the chances are.

Didn't Lagat give his 1500m spot to Wheating in 2011 ad chose to only run the 5000 at Worlds?

Solution: Kill the 10000m.

The women's 10000 was the only U.S. newsworthy distance event in Beijing last year.

25 laps of boredom wrote:

Solution: Kill the 10000m.

Er... wrote:

Whatever feedback you get could you please change the wording of your piece where you say, "but if they decide not to bother" ? I think the decision whether or not to compete in an event at their national championships/Olympic Trials, with the possibility of an Olympic spot on the line, comes down to more than whether or not a professional athlete can be bothered to compete.

Yes, I'm a pedant. But you and your website don't seem to realize how your writing often undercuts the professionalism of the sport. I'm not talking about having grammatical errors in your writing--though there are far too many of those. I mean that too often your work is just lazy, with phrases like this that show your writers are not investing themselves in their work and doing an effective job of promoting the sport. It deserves better.

LOL from a guy named "Er".

You're right of course. But it's the Internet. It's not about your editing it's about getting the content online. And that's all.

Precious Roy wrote:

No healthy athlete would give up a chance to double no matter how bad the odds against them are. Championship 5k/10ks can be toss ups. When the pace is slow and super tactical, it can be possible for a lesser athlete to sneak a medal with a well timed big kick. If the pass is torrid from the gun (rare with the women), it can be possible to pick off a few top runners who tank and get a medal. No athlete is going to give up a shot at a medal, no matter how remote the chances are.

Shalane Flanagan gave up her 10K spot in 2012 Olympics. Of course, Shalane ran the marathon in 2012, but the 10K spot was her's having taken third in the Olympic Trials.

CycloneAlum wrote:

Shalane Flanagan gave up her 10K spot in 2012 Olympics. Of course, Shalane ran the marathon in 2012, but the 10K spot was her's having taken third in the Olympic Trials.

She already had the spot because no one else had the A standard, her 3rd place was irrelevant. We ended up having only two run in the Olympics, nobody gained her spot.

no one got her spot wrote:

CycloneAlum wrote:

Shalane Flanagan gave up her 10K spot in 2012 Olympics. Of course, Shalane ran the marathon in 2012, but the 10K spot was her's having taken third in the Olympic Trials.

She already had the spot because no one else had the A standard, her 3rd place was irrelevant. We ended up having only two run in the Olympics, nobody gained her spot.

Lisa Uhl had the ran in place of Flanagan along with Amy Cragg and Janet Bawcom. We had 3 and they placed 11,12,13. Not sure if Uhl had the A or B but you could run with 2 As and 1 B standard.

What even happened to Julie Culley??

If there is a payoff, $20K for an olympic spot is a bargain. They need not have the cash immediately - as the parties could create a forward contract payoff.

So, lets suppose Galen makes the 10K OT squad (not a big leap of faith). The interesting question is: At what price does Galen decide to withdraw from either the 10K or marathon?

If Luke wants to run, I suspect he would have to pay alot more than 20K to Galen to get him to step aside. However, the 4th place 10K finisher could get Galen to step aside at a less expensive price (more value to Rupp in earning a marathon medal compared to another 10K medal).

Not sure if this should be unethical or illegal. They already are "whores" in that they run for a price (or expected income). Now they are just haggling...

Shaun Creighton gave up his spot to a young Craig Mottram so that he could run the 5000m at the Sydney Olympics. Shaun decided to just run the 10,000m. Not sure if money was involved. Probably not.

Swimming - Craig Stevens gave up his spot in the 400m freestyle to Ian Thorpe for the 2004 Olympics. There was a huge amount of public pressure put on Stevens to give up his spot as Thorpe was disqualified in the trials for a false start. After giving up his spot Stevens did go to the Olympics and competed in one of the relays. I have no doubt there was a lot of money involved in him giving up his spot. Thorpe did end winning gold in the 400m freestyle at the Olympics.

20 Potential Roadblocks to a Rupp Marathon medal

http://road-to-rio.com/

1 Eliud Kipchoge KEN 2:04:00 Berlin (GER) 27.09.2015 TFP,Q

2 Tesfaye Abera ETH 2:04:24 Dubai (UAE) 22.01.2016 TFP,Q

3 Hayle Lemi ETH 2:04:33 Dubai (UAE) 22.01.2016 TFP,Q

4 Tsegaye Mekonnen ETH 2:04:46 Dubai (UAE) 22.01.2016 TFP,Q

5 Wilson Kipsang KEN 2:04:47 London (GBR) 26.04.2015 TFP,Q

6 Eliud Kiptanui KEN 2:05:21 Berlin (GER) 27.09.2015 TFP,Q

7 Stephen Kiprotich UGA 2:06:33 Tokyo (JPN) 22.02.2015 TFP,Q

8 Shumi Dechasa BRN 2:07:20 Tokyo (JPN) 22.02.2015 TFP,Q

9 Masato Imai JPN 2:07:39 Tokyo (JPN) 22.02.2015 TFP,Q

10 Stephen Mokoka RSA 2:07:40 Shanghai (CHN) 08.11.2015 TFP,Q

11 Ghirmay Ghebreslassie ERI 2:07:47 Hamburg (GER) 26.04.2015 TFP,Q

12 Amanuel Mesel ERI 2:08:18 Warszawa (POL) 26.04.2015 TFP,Q

13 Arne Gabius GER 2:08:33 Frankfurt (GER) 25.10.2015 TFP,Q

14 Satoru Sasaki JPN 2:08:56 Fukuoka (JPN) 06.12.2015 TFP,Q

15 Oleksandr Sitkovskyy UKR 2:09:11 Marrakech (MAR) 25.01.2015 Q

16 Hiroaki Sano JPN 2:09:12 Tokyo (JPN) 22.02.2015 TFP,Q

17 Tewelde Estifanos ERI 2:09:16 Frankfurt (GER) 25.10.2015 TFP,Q

18 Javier Guerra ESP 2:09:33 London (GBR) 26.04.2015 TFP,Q

19 Abdellah Tagharrafet MAR 2:10:01 Guangzhou (CHN) 06.12.2015 Q

20 Henryk Szost POL 2:10:11 Warszawa (POL) 26.04.2015 Q

RUPP Is currently 37th on the list

If the 4th placer was coached by Salazar I could definitely see it happen......and so could u........and more than $20,000 I might add.

0/10

You didn't even really try there.

someonedid wrote:

no one got her spot wrote:

She already had the spot because no one else had the A standard, her 3rd place was irrelevant. We ended up having only two run in the Olympics, nobody gained her spot.

Lisa Uhl had the ran in place of Flanagan along with Amy Cragg and Janet Bawcom. We had 3 and they placed 11,12,13. Not sure if Uhl had the A or B but you could run with 2 As and 1 B standard.

Uhl had the A standard and was 4th at the trials. Bawcom was 7th at the trials and also had the A standard, I think. 2nd at the trials was Natosha Rogers, but she only had the B standard. Flanagan's spot went to Bawcom and bypassed Rogers.