Nick Willis misses World Championships by 1 spot due to four "gift athletes"

A bummer.

"Gift athletes" should be additional athletes in field. So if a field would have 14 usually. Then have 15 if it has a gift athlete. Willis has been around for ages and is popular. Makes more sense for him to be at Worlds than some no name especially when exceptions are being made to bump him.

Athletics NZ sound like a bunch of crybabies. Willis didn't hit the auto qualifier. Instead of assuming that Willis was in without the qualifier, Athletics NZ should have assumed he was out until receiving an "gift" invitation from the IAAF.

When your life is wondering about whether you're #42 or not...

Just won the 5th Avenue Mile.

Nowhere in the IAAF published materials does it say that they will bump athletes in random events to add athletes outside of the field size. But they won't add them to technical events.

That would be like the NCAA randomly dropping the 20th qualifier in a 24 person field to add number 100 to the field.

Current rankings for Tokyo 2020:

https://www.tokyorankings.com/

Granting attendance to some athletes from countries without a Q athlete is debatable, but is is within the known rules.

It is a similar measure as the restriction to 3 athletes (+ one wildcard) per nation regardless of their number of Q athletes.

Probably glowing from all that kiwi sauce.

https://en.cocktail.fabbri1905.com/imgpub/1895241/300/0/Kiwi-Top-280x500.jpg

Nick's had a great career so whatever.

I don't like it at all. Let these slow countries run sprints where they get their own lane. I still get mad at the IAAF for D'Agostino and Hamblin getting hurt by that slow poke from Chad.

Knowing Nick, I'm sure he's not gutted and expects more out of himself. He knows he is getting older and his window of high level performances is closing. He'll focus on making Tokyo standard and then call it a career.

I agree. Nick is a professional. He will use this as extra motivation. He will get the Olympic standard. It is unfortunate if the added athletes and the drug cheats were kicked out there would probably be 6 to 10 less athletes entered. Tokyo 2020!!!

And due to a bunch of potato planters no doubt.

"Gift athletes" should be additional athletes in field. So if a field would have 14 usually. Then have 15 if it has a gift athlete."

I agree with that.

Actually, a 1500m field has 12 usually. Looks with 45 entrants, it would be 3 heats of 11 and one heat of 12.

Add a gift athlete to each heat and they won't be in the way.

"Willis has been around for ages and is popular. Makes more sense for him to be at Worlds than some no name especially when exceptions are being made to bump him."

I don't agree with that.

Athletes on the bubble should not get in based on popularity.

It's an objective sport. We don't need subjectivity involved.

Nick ran 3:35.25 in September of last year. Sometimes the window goes back to the previous year. I guess not this time.

He's actually is #65 on the world list this year. But I guess #42 "ranked" time.

He ran 3:37 in Paris which was won in 3:30 and the winner in his 3:36.99 race ran 3:35 flat.

He had his chances.

He just didn't run fast enough this year top qualify.

Who are the 4 slower athletes who got in ahead of him?

But three slower runners are in because they are slower???

Makes sense, "it's an objective sport"

Objective?

.....If you're a Moran.

spar wrote:

But three slower runners are in because they are slower???

Makes sense, "it's an objective sport"

Objective?

.....If you're a Moran.

They limit entrants at 3 per event per country.

There are plenty of Kenyans who don't qualify that are faster than those that do.

It's still objective because they are not subjectively eliminating the faster Kenyans.

Same with these wild cards.

They allow any nation without a qualifier to enter exactly one athlete in one event.

That is an objective standard.

Nick Willis has had plenty of opportunities in his running career. Willis will never earn another Olympic medal or World Championship medal as a track & field athlete. He has come to Winter Olympics time in his life. If he can shoot a rifle well, maybe biathlon or curing in winter.

Gone fishin

?

.99 away wrote:

Athletics NZ sound like a bunch of crybabies. Willis didn't hit the auto qualifier. Instead of assuming that Willis was in without the qualifier, Athletics NZ should have assumed he was out until receiving an "gift" invitation from the IAAF.

He did his the auto qualifier. He was top 45.