Help save the US Olympic Marathon Trials - A call to action

trying to understand wrote:

Yeah, I understand that's how the world works and appreciate the difficulty of making these changes.

But my problem with rojo's arguments is that they are not compelling enough to influence the change he wants. His will is certainly there, which I respect.

The arguments though; they need to stand up to debate and my sense is that they are too flimsy to do so at present. They're weaker than the "just run faster and hit the qualifying time" argument, and he and others have been unable to provide compelling alternates.

They might not be compelling to you, but my bet is they will be compelling enough to the people that matter (coaches and USATF officials).

AllowedToHaveOpinions wrote:

trying to understand wrote:

Yeah, I understand that's how the world works and appreciate the difficulty of making these changes.

But my problem with rojo's arguments is that they are not compelling enough to influence the change he wants. His will is certainly there, which I respect.

The arguments though; they need to stand up to debate and my sense is that they are too flimsy to do so at present. They're weaker than the "just run faster and hit the qualifying time" argument, and he and others have been unable to provide compelling alternates.

They might not be compelling to you, but my bet is they will be compelling enough to the people that matter (coaches and USATF officials).

Time will tell.

trying to understand wrote:

You're basically advocating for the Kenyan/Ethiopian system which you have often stated how much you deplore because it takes away objectivity and allows people to pick who they want to go.

Dumbest argument yet. First 3 across the finish line is a completely objective selection process. To compare it to the selection committees in Kenya and Ethiopia is unspeakably dumb.

BTW it would be great if someone offered to host a Kenyan marathon trials. I assume the reason these countries don't have one is they don't want their athletes to have to forfeit all the money running a sprint marathon and they don't have the money to pay them to make up for it. But if some third party offered to host their trials and pay lots of money and appearance fees it would be great TV.

Say it does come to fruition and a non-qualifying runner finishes top three at the trials. What are the requirements for the spot to be filled? will the hopeful runner have to start the OTM or will they have to finish the OTM or will there be a roll down list of qualified runners that get asked if they want the spot. What if the highest ranked runner is presently injured, do they still get the spot if they want it? Would finishing highly (but outside of top three) at the OTM give you a benefit over someone with a faster time and ranking who didn't finish the OTM?

Hardloper wrote:

trying to understand wrote:

You're basically advocating for the Kenyan/Ethiopian system which you have often stated how much you deplore because it takes away objectivity and allows people to pick who they want to go.

Dumbest argument yet. First 3 across the finish line is a completely objective selection process. To compare it to the selection committees in Kenya and Ethiopia is unspeakably dumb.

BTW it would be great if someone offered to host a Kenyan marathon trials. I assume the reason these countries don't have one is they don't want their athletes to have to forfeit all the money running a sprint marathon and they don't have the money to pay them to make up for it. But if some third party offered to host their trials and pay lots of money and appearance fees it would be great TV.

yeah, i was totally trying to troll rojo on that paragraph. good on him for not taking the bait. You sure took it though Hardloper...

Whatever you say. Real smooth backpedaling!

asklfgkasdfklsdklf wrote:

Say it does come to fruition and a non-qualifying runner finishes top three at the trials. will the hopeful runner have to start the OTM or will they have to finish the OTM or will there be a roll down list of qualified runners that get asked if they want the spot.

A roll down would be classic, like they do in Ironman.

And if no one else runs below 2:11.30 this fall, which I suspect a bunch of people are going to be trying now, that essentially means Ward, Fauble and Rupp can just jog through Atlanta.. so long as no one actually runs better than 2:11 in Atlanta. Which I suspect that no one will if they can't do it on an easier course already.

Really, if Brogan Austin, Llano, Ritz and the few others who are on the cusp don't run below 2:11.30 this fall.. the trials will just be a fun run for everyone else.

I have a podcast called Masters Milers (

https://www.mastersmilers.com/feed/podcast/

) and I interviewed Meb on Wednesday for the show. I asked him his thoughts about the possibility of having a top-3 finisher at the US Olympic Trials marathon not go to the Olympics and he agrees with Letsrun's view on this topic. Here is what he said to me during the interview on this topic:

“The marathon is a very unique sport and I think the US has done it fair and square in the past and it still works. I didn’t go to Bejing because I didn’t finish in the top 3 in 2008…we want fans of the sport and we want to increase the audience. By making this kind of rule, you are disconnecting people. It’s not good for the sport. I also think for the Olympic Games, if you medal, you should be invited to the next Olympics, as long as you show fitness because you are only adding three more people to the field…I would rather see that happen than try to change where if you make the top three, you have to wait until later. You’re making it more complicated and you’re losing fans…As far as I can tell, the Olympic Trials are February 29th and if you don’t know until May, what fan is going to back and see? No: you get top three, it’s exciting and you fight. Fourth place is trying to get third place, third place is trying to hold on for dear life because third is as good as number one on that day. You get to have the flag around you and say ‘I made the Olympic team’.”

Guys Rojo got ESPN to retweet him! Not like they do any do any objective reporting on research and don't just play to emotions.

BBC interviews, ESPN retweets- Rojo is the go to track and field expert.