I've watched the 2016 marathon trials at least a dozen times on DVR over the past year and there's an incident at one of the first fluid stations during the female race that makes me cringe every time I see it.
Misiker Demissie Demissie is drafting Amy Cragg really closely, almost on her heels for the first 20 minutes of the race. They approach an aid station and it clearly appears Demissie misses her fluid (table #2) due to her focus on drafting Cragg and being boxed out from other runners. She then grabs a bottle from table #3, looks at it, then just drops it in the immediate path of all the other runners. She then grabs a dissimilar bottle with a huge yellow straw from table #4 and starts drinking.
It happens really quickly, but her actions are so unbelievably reckless. Taking other people's bottles during record heat, then tossing it in the immediate path of folks running at least 5:50 pace at that time.
She drops from the lead pack shortly thereafter and from the race at 53:36 according to her splits.
I'm curious if someone has a special fluids table assignment list from 2016. I can't find it online. Want to know if she even had fluids in the race because she was a late entry (article linked below).
I know it's too late for a DQ, but perhaps someone from USATF could sit down with Demissie at her next race and explain how selfish and reckless her actions were that day. She likely ruined someone's race with her bottle stealing and potentially could have hurt someone with how she discarded it.
http://www.runnersworld.com/olympic-trials/a-new-us-citizen-could-shake-up-womens-olympic-marathon-trials
One year later: Bottle stealing at 2016 marathon trials
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Grow up and get a job dude. Seriously, you've sat down and rewatched the trials a dozen times?
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BeavisNButthead wrote:
Grow up and get a job dude. Seriously, you've sat down and rewatched the trials a dozen times?
I agree. He should know that a POC, especially from a country whose athletes have been approved to dope by officials (for political reasons to deep to discuss here) can do whatever they want.
Seriously, has anyone ever spent time around Ethiopians in large numbers? They are among the most self-absorbed people on the planet, sometimes seeming to barely be aware of those around them who aren't Ethiopian, or how their actions affect anyone or anything around them. It is strange and sometimes hilarious to watch. Cruise to Little Ethiopia in L.A. and then watch the people. LOL -
BeavisNButthead wrote:
Grow up and get a job dude. Seriously, you've sat down and rewatched the trials a dozen times?
No need to get ugly, that's not mature behavior. I watch recorded track events while foam rolling and stretching. I think the 2016 trials was the best televised event I've seen in a long time. -
L.A. Safari wrote:
Seriously, has anyone ever spent time around Ethiopians in large numbers? They are among the most self-absorbed people on the planet, sometimes seeming to barely be aware of those around them who aren't Ethiopian, or how their actions affect anyone or anything around them.
Gee, I can't think of ANY other national or ethnic group that acts like that.... -
If you accidentally pick up another persons bottle you are supposed to drop it immediately so that the volunteers can place it back. Of course the damage may have been done if that person had already passed. My point is, she could claim it was a mistake and tried to do the right thing and no one could argue otherwise. Warnings are given out for this type of thing at Major marathons with a threat of DQ if harmful intent is proven.
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Trailed wrote:
If you accidentally pick up another persons bottle you are supposed to drop it immediately so that the volunteers can place it back. Of course the damage may have been done if that person had already passed. My point is, she could claim it was a mistake and tried to do the right thing and no one could argue otherwise. Warnings are given out for this type of thing at Major marathons with a threat of DQ if harmful intent is proven.
I understand that. The troubling part is that she attempted to pick up bottles at THREE different tables. Plus, when she dropped it, she made no attempt to toss it to the side. Instead, she tossed into the path of other runners.
If indeed she was assigned table 2, then the video proves her actions were intentional. -
In the London 2012 marathon, one of the women repeatedly pulled this "throw the bottle at the competitors' feet" stunt. I'm not naming names or nationalities, you can find the replay.
As a long-ago hockey player, anybody attempting to injure me during a race would quickly be eating the pavement, kissing a lamppost, or the like. -
Why is that Bahreini doper even allowed to run for the USA?!