Breaking: An Absolute Travesty! USATF WILL NOT honor top 3 finish at US Olympic Trials unless you have the standard!!!

Runningart2004 wrote:

This is why track is a joke sport in the US. Even the fan boys don’t know the rules because the rules don’t make sense.

It should be a simple qualification process. Forget times. Top 3 go. That’s it.

Agreed. Remember, folks, "when you are explaining, you are losing."

I am an intelligent, hard-core fan, and I am exhausted trying to decipher these stupid qualifying rules.

Here is the simple, elegant solution that ensures only fast guys make the Oly team, AND that we get top-3 drama at the trials:

Make the time standard to ENTER the trials the same as the IAAF standard. Then the top 3 get to go to Olympics.

IF the IAAF standard turns out to be too tough, and a great running nation like the USA is not sending 3 men per event, then MAKE THE IAAF STANDARD SLOWER.

And the USA is A GREAT RUNNING NATION. I hate all these posts talking about how mediocre the US running scene is. Compared to who, Kenya and Ethiopia? Give me a break.

The only nations better than the USA at 800m to 10k are Kenya and Ethiopia.

The only nations better than the USA at marathon are Kenya, Ethiopia and Japan.

So let's quit with the mediocre talk. Yes, the US marathon depth was better in the 1980s. But running under 2:12 (5 minute miles for 26 miles in a row!!!!) is really freaking hard for EVERY nation EXCEPT Ken, ETh, and JPN.

As for the 5k and 10k, the BOTTOM LINE is that the western world is not interested in seeing a bunch of anonymous East Africans dominate. PERIOD. It is just the western world's (you know, the guys that created track and field) bad luck that East africans happen to be so dominant at distance running. It may be "racist" but it's the cold hard truth.

feasting on victoria wrote:

Make the time standard to ENTER the trials the same as the IAAF standard. Then the top 3 get to go to Olympics.

This.

END.

In 2000 the USA sent only one marathoner to the Olympic Games because only one qualified.

bleu wrote:

If that's the case then why is everyone whining. If all the top runners will have enough points even without a 2:11 nothing has changed.

Because the USATF won't send them to the Olympics, even if they have a high enough rank to go to the Olympics and finish top 3 in the trials, because someone behind them had the auto standard.

messi wrote:

an honest assessment wrote:

Like I said, if you're not going to read, stop commenting please. People like you make the internet a tedious place with all your spam.

Please clarify - can the IAAF ranking be tougher than the Olympic standard? Because of IAAF ranking and depth can Ethiopia now send 15 'thonners to the Olympic 'thon? You are really sending out a smoke screen with your vague responses.

Thank you.

The auto standard is much harder than achieving a sufficient IAAF ranking. Ethiopia cannot send 15 to the Olympics because there is a limit of 3 per country, which is irrelevant to the conversation.

this isnt new look at 2016

http://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/4d/4d053a7b-8295-483a-b3f8-3fa05b5e5a19.pdf

http://www.usatf.org/usatf/files/4d/4d053a7b-8295-483a-b3f8-3fa05b5e5a19.pdf

'Minimum International Olympic Committee (IOC) standards for

participation:'

Run Faster you are so spot on - and most other countries do this. You need a qualifying time and a place at nationals (trials) for an Olympic place. You want consistent fast runners, not someone who pulls a crazy race out of a hat on one day. And yes, with this system some great runners may miss out - just like letting three anybodies take a spot on trial day from consistent fast runners. It’s called competition.

an honest assessment wrote:

bleu wrote:

If that's the case then why is everyone whining. If all the top runners will have enough points even without a 2:11 nothing has changed.

Because the USATF won't send them to the Olympics, even if they have a high enough rank to go to the Olympics and finish top 3 in the trials, because someone behind them had the auto standard.

if you finish top 3 and qualify you go

This is always how it's been. There were qualifying standards. Now they will be meaningful. They will not be soft enough that tiny countries get to send one clown who can barely finish an event. Everyone there should be decent by international standards. That's what changed: the standards got stiff enough to weed out the chumps. Good. It's about time.

not true wrote:

an honest assessment wrote:

Because the USATF won't send them to the Olympics, even if they have a high enough rank to go to the Olympics and finish top 3 in the trials, because someone behind them had the auto standard.

if you finish top 3 and qualify you go

Not if you qualify by world ranking rather than the auto standard.

Anyone advocating "Top 3 finishers period" wasn't in the UK in 1976, when the Marathon trials produced three 2:15+ Olympians (who bombed, of course) while leaving Sub 2:10 guys home (Hill, Thompson).

It's not a travesty. It's good for the sport. And you know it. Chelimo is an example? Of what? Of sudden, suspicious improvement after working with shady folks outside the US? Behavior that has continued without the questioning that would surround someone like Centro or Rupp who are constantly accused of being cheats?

If you don't have the standard to make it in an event, tough. Less clutter at the Games. Hell, we still see 2:00 800m runners in the Games due to the single competitor allowance. Shut it all down.

weird wrote:

this isnt new look at 2016

What changed is the IAAF qualification system and the USATF failed to adapt. Under the current rules Paul Chelimo and Jared Ward would not have been selected for the Olympics even though they would have been qualified, and USATF would have sent someone who finished behind them instead.

Wasnt always this way? I dont get the outrage. I can remember many times guys placing top 3 that ddint have the A standard. Meanwhile this means a absolutely nothing for sprinters. Meet the standard or move on.

Since this thread was started by Rodge-O it's a good opportunity to point out again how the site designers need to limit the number of nested quotes to something like two or three

Runningart2004 wrote:

This is why track is a joke sport in the US. Even the fan boys don’t know the rules because the rules don’t make sense.

It should be a simple qualification process. Forget times. Top 3 go. That’s it.

Really they need to disband the USATF and just pay no attention to the IAAF.

Someone with a lot of money needs to create a track league with teams spread out across the country. Make it an indoor league because fans will be closer to the action.

Alan

No, Alan,

Your idea would make the sport a joke. You have to have some qualification standards or nations would just hold a "national" championships and then send the top 3 regardless of time. You'd get a lot of people who have no business being at the olympics.

With Rupp out...we’ve got nobody anyway.

an honest assessment wrote:

weird wrote:

this isnt new look at 2016

What changed is the IAAF qualification system and the USATF failed to adapt. Under the current rules Paul Chelimo and Jared Ward would not have been selected for the Olympics even though they would have been qualified, and USATF would have sent someone who finished behind them instead.

It's illogical to suggest that both Ward and Chelimo wouldn't have changed their training/racing if these standards had been in place. Ward could have run a spring marathon in 2015 to try to get top 10 in a WMM or top 5 in a Gold Label race.

The one problem I see is that there is no Gold Label marathon in the U.S. (excluding Boston, NYCM, Chicago). However, Canada has 2.

gfsdgdsfg wrote:

Runningart2004 wrote:

This is why track is a joke sport in the US. Even the fan boys don’t know the rules because the rules don’t make sense.

It should be a simple qualification process. Forget times. Top 3 go. That’s it.

Really they need to disband the USATF and just pay no attention to the IAAF.

Someone with a lot of money needs to create a track league with teams spread out across the country. Make it an indoor league because fans will be closer to the action.

Alan

No, Alan,

Your idea would make the sport a joke. You have to have some qualification standards or nations would just hold a "national" championships and then send the top 3 regardless of time. You'd get a lot of people who have no business being at the olympics.

runningart2004 is right. We're talking about the US, not other nations. Anyone who finishes on the podium at USOT will have a sufficient rank to go to the Olympics. USATF should therefore select the top 3 regardless of whether they also meet the time standard. The USATF can already do this, no changes needed from the IAAF.