Why did the other girls let Alexa Efraimson get away with that!?

That is a karate chop in the chest.

Why did the OFFICIALS let her get away with that?

BMart should have clipped Uceny.

Close Cover Before Striking wrote:

This was hashed to death already. Watch Uceny's feet as she cuts from the outside of lane 2 to the inside of lane 2, causing the squeeze that pushed BMart into Alexa who gets pushed into Johnson.

Alexa was just stating upright as Uceny caused the problem. Uceny ran the whole race like a drunken thug.

The whole incident was caused by Uceny and her terribly inconsiderate cutting people off.

/thread

I blew it up and watched it on .25 speed.

Martinez did NOT move in on Alexa when Uceny came in on her. Watch her foot strike the entire series, she was striking about 4-6 inches outside the lane 1 line before Uceny came up on her and was still about 4-6 inches off the line when Alexa nailed her. Martinez did not move in. The girl in white was slowing and coming back on Alexa, so rather than slowing she just moved out a bit. Right into Martinez, and when they rubbed shoulders Alex just throws her arm straight out into Brenda and smacks her, then stumbles into the girl in white and knocks her clean off the track.

It is certainly much more Alexa's fault than Morgans.

I just downloaded it and watched it full screen on my 42 inch plasma in 1080p in slow mo. Martinez moved in on Alexa and started pushing her further inside with her shoulder - as a result Alexa exercised her competitive right to push back. Smart instincts by Alexa. Had she not responded in this way she would have likely fallen. End of story.

M.C. Confusing wrote:

I blew it up and watched it on .25 speed.

Martinez did NOT move in on Alexa when Uceny came in on her. Watch her foot strike the entire series, she was striking about 4-6 inches outside the lane 1 line before Uceny came up on her and was still about 4-6 inches off the line when Alexa nailed her. Martinez did not move in. The girl in white was slowing and coming back on Alexa, so rather than slowing she just moved out a bit. Right into Martinez, and when they rubbed shoulders Alex just throws her arm straight out into Brenda and smacks her, then stumbles into the girl in white and knocks her clean off the track.

It is certainly much more Alexa's fault than Morgans.

Interesting to watch the final lap in slo-mo. With 300 to go (3:23 video), Uceny, Vaughn and Efraimson are ahead of Rowburry, Martinez and Eccleston. From there, the front three (excluding Jenny) disintegrate while the next move up for the medals. In this phase of the race the women did a good job overall in not creating unnecessary drama while fading and passing. Contrast with the final 200 of the 800.

There were 2 threads created about this the day after the trials. Some more opinions there (I had the names mangled in one of them)

This is what happened ~` wrote:

Close Cover Before Striking wrote:

This was hashed to death already. Watch Uceny's feet as she cuts from the outside of lane 2 to the inside of lane 2, causing the squeeze that pushed BMart into Alexa who gets pushed into Johnson.

Alexa was just stating upright as Uceny caused the problem. Uceny ran the whole race like a drunken thug.

The whole incident was caused by Uceny and her terribly inconsiderate cutting people off.

/thread

/thread

As much as I love Brenda Martinez, that's clearly on her. Martinez can't just drop back into Efraimson (or anyone else) like she does at 3:11. Martinez was having a lot of trouble running in a pack these trials. Efraimson did the right thing. She knew what was on the line and that's what makes the middle distances some of the most fun to watch on the track. Traffic like that is always physical.

Rewatching it: Uceny did cut Martinez off, but Martinez should've been more assertive as well. None of it was Efraimson's fault. Track is physical. If Efraimson had made that move unwarranted, she would've been in the wrong. However, she was protecting her position. That's just part of racing.

racing in bun huggers?

Rubbin' is racin'.

Except when it's foreplay.

jimjamesrunner wrote:

As much as I love Brenda Martinez, that's clearly on her. Martinez can't just drop back into Efraimson (or anyone else) like she does at 3:11.

What are you talking about? Nothing is happening at 3:11. The action happens between 2:57 and 2:59 race time.

Uceny cuts BMart off, starting the whole chain reaction.

Anyone who thinks Alexa didn't do anything wrong has probably never ran track in their life. You cannot intentionally create contact with another runner. If you got boxed in you didn't run smart and you have to PASS the runners in front of you not punch and push them out of the way. Looks like in the final 100 she started running diagonally to try and cut people off which also didn't work too well for her.

Alexa was wrong.

Ppl that think it was Martinez's fault I have this to say...

She made the team and Alexa didn't, you can't do anything about that buddy

/thread

Agreed Uceny started it off. Efraimson's "hit" on Brenda was just an arm flailing out. There was no intentional karate chop or similar. The girl on the inside copped it worse.

Uceny was looking for an excuse to fall.

If you're going to fall, aim to take out of many other bodies as possible. Makes it look better to the judges in seeking a rerun, and ensures it will make the daily sports highlights.

What is probably worse:

Watch her last 100 meters.

Alexa swings out of lane 1 and cuts off Amanda. No reason to do this except block another athlete. Because there was no one in front of Alexa when she does this move and it is abrupt.

M.C. Confusing wrote:

I blew it up and watched it on .25 speed.

Martinez did NOT move in on Alexa when Uceny came in on her. Watch her foot strike the entire series, she was striking about 4-6 inches outside the lane 1 line before Uceny came up on her and was still about 4-6 inches off the line when Alexa nailed her. Martinez did not move in.

That's wrong. At 2:57.9 race time BMart's left foot is just an inch away from the inner line.