Des may skip the Olympic Trials

No one should or will have an issue if Des does not go for the 2020 trials. She's already made the 2012 and 2016 Olympic Teams and she will be 37 for Tokyo. She has little chance of medaling at the Olympics, and let's say less than 50/50 chance to make the US Team. Whichever route she goes it's her choice. I don't hear anyone complaining that Peggy Fleming or MaryLou Retton should be trying to make Olympic Teams instead of earning appearance fees or working as broadcasters. There is already so little money in running, let's just let a pro manage their own career from 35-50 and make the most of it.

Skipping the olympics only works when you can set a wr or at least a national record. Since Kenya and Ethiopia can only send 3 athletes a piece, she has an outside shot at medalling, better than she does of winning New York. An olympic medal, or even finishing just outside the medals has to be worth more in appearance fees for her next marathon than another 6th or 7th in NY. By the way, its possible to do both the Olympics and New York if money is really so important, its not like she'd win NY even with a 6 month build up anyways. American runners these days are fairy snow flakes.

GOING for gold wrote:

That's means Gwen Jorgensen is sure to get in...

Are you serious??

answer right here wrote:

There will always be East African competition at Boston and Desi has no chance of winning. If she does it she's trying to capitalize on appearance fees plain and simple.

Even before last year I thought Desi proved that she had the ability to win based on her past performances in Boston.

Kvothe wrote:

Skipping the olympics only works when you can set a wr or at least a national record. Since Kenya and Ethiopia can only send 3 athletes a piece, she has an outside shot at medalling, better than she does of winning New York. An olympic medal, or even finishing just outside the medals has to be worth more in appearance fees for her next marathon than another 6th or 7th in NY. By the way, its possible to do both the Olympics and New York if money is really so important, its not like she'd win NY even with a 6 month build up anyways. American runners these days are fairy snow flakes.

Huh? An Olympic medal?? Are you a fan of this sport? The only "outside shot" she has is an outside shot of making the team.

2 different threads on the front page about Des and both of them talk about money rather than performance. Kind of sad. She was once considered the ultimate blue collar runner.

GOING for gold wrote:

That's means Gwen Jorgensen is sure to get in...

Lol nope. She’s gotta run like 8-10 minutes faster to be in the conversation.

I would love to hear the Hanson brothers take on Des skipping the trials.

What The wrote:

Seems like the BAA and USATF could work things out so that it would be possible to run Boston AND the Trials, and perhaps even make them the same race. Maybe that makes too much sense.

Boston did host the US Marathon Trials in 2008 the same weekend as Boston that year, but like when it is at every other course that has a marathon the following day, it is not on the same course as the standard marathon course. They make it a looped course for spectating/mimicking the Olympic course. Also, I cannot see any scenario even if that weren't the case that USATF would want the Olympic Trials to have anyone else running in it other than the Olympic Trials qualifiers. That is like saying the US Track & Field Trials should be a diamond league meet with foreign runners competing. It just doesn't make sense when you are trying to highlight American running/runners and selecting your Olympic team based on head to head competition (though it is not clear if that is entirely true anymore with the new Olympic qualification system).

rojo wrote:

The Beers were talking wrote:

This will change the way many top level Pro Americans handle the Olympics in the future. The only reason that top Ethiopians and Kenyans run the Olympic Games is because their Governments force them to.

Yeah, great post. It's not like they don't have huge shoe contract bonuses for making Olympic teams.

It's not like there isn't big money at the Trials and it's not like developing an image of being money hungry wouldn't hurt your brand.

Your writing is really bad when you're being sincere, but it is even worse when you're being sarcastic.

rojo wrote:

Yeah, great post. It's not like they don't have huge shoe contract bonuses for making Olympic teams.

It's not like there isn't big money at the Trials and it's not like developing an image of being money hungry wouldn't hurt your brand.

What is huge?

The Cox effect wrote:

2 different threads on the front page about Des and both of them talk about money rather than performance. Kind of sad. She was once considered the ultimate blue collar runner.

Only by idiots.

Tokyo on 2 August is going to be a steambath and a survival test as much as, or more than, a foot race.

Every American marathoner, male or female, who is good enough to have a plausible chance at making the team has to consider seriously whether it's worth it.

Training in Flagstaff and dropping into Tokyo is not likely to going to work out very well.

If I were her sponsor I’d rather her run a WMM in Brooks than the Olympic Games in Nike and I would financially make it worth it for her to do so.

Who has the most top 10 women finishes at Boston?

Can she being going for that record?

Why do people think Linden is out of the conversation to make the Olympic team? She’s the most consistent marathoner in the country and the Trials is going to be on a course that plays to her strengths. Boston would bring her back in 2021. Why not take one last swing at the OG?

Better she skip trying for a National Team, than make it and pull the bs she did few years back.