Oly Trials Marathon Re-Run?

Depending on when it was rescheduled for, I'd keep the team, but mandate that they hit a certain time standard (maybe even just in the half) before a certain time in the lead-up, to ensure that they're in shape and ready to go. If they don't hit it, the next in line who hits it gets to go.

Do not see them even entertaining a re-run. The six athletes earned their spot. Take a year and train for it the way you want. They can run a fall major, a spring half, and then the summer games in 2021. They're gonna honor their spots & they should.

From what I sensed at the post race press interview was that all six marathon qualifiers are sincere and ethical people who if they were unfit to represent the USA prior to a rescheduled Olympics would relinquish their spots to alternates. In turn the USOC should still send them as team members to the Olympics to support the team.

Tom

No, they should not re run them.

End of thread

DirtyT wrote:

Dear moran poster,

The level of stupidity runs high in you.

moran? seriously?

Unfair wrote:

They need to keep the team they have. All three earned and trained for their spot. You only get ONE chance to race at the Olympics, so why should you get more then one chance to qualify. All 6 men and woman deserve to run wether it’s in 2020 or 2021.

This x 100

I agree with those saying the team should be unchanged. In the end, the argument that "we must send the 6 individuals with the best chance of medaling" carries no weight. That's not how the Trials work, although it is a rough proxy for making that determination.

hhsrunner32 wrote:

Max Crush Mondays wrote:

Dear racist poster,

If we re-ran the Olympic Trials 100 times, you would never get your dream All- White team.

Sincerely,

True Team USA fans

Lmao you snowflake. He wasn’t involving race and it’s true. He is older so it could be hard to keep from. You liberals are getting worse.

He's an unregistered troll. Probably a Trumpster trying to stir up a little hate.

Indeed rerun and select runners even less likely to be within 4 minutes of the medal places

For the cost of a ticket to Tokyo, food, and housing, the IOC could send connected treadmills to all track qualifiers and run the Olympics on Zoom.

If the goal is to get the 6 most likely to medal, then a case can be made to re-run the trials.

That being said, no they should not re-run the trials.

If they were re-run it'd be a real bummer for the top 3 runners, for a couple reasons.

Financially, the runners that just ran top 3 could get more money from a race like Boston. The prize money was $80k, $65k, $55k, and then 4th was $20k. These people would be capable next year of getting at least half of that prize money amount through appearance fees, possibly even more. And then they still are likely to receive the actual prize money from a race like Boston. Rupp could win and make $200k or more for the whole weekend. And then if they reran the trials, a couple of them wouldn't place top 3, so they'd be looking at $20k or likely less which would be less than an appearance fee somewhere else could've been.

And then the reason that it's likely the team would be very difference, four of these first-timers for olympics wouldn't end up going and get that title of 'Olympian'.

Maybe build in a rule that says if any of the top 3 from this year finish top 5 next year they still get to go. That'd be pretty impressive to be top 5 both years, one of them being top 3... But then what if Korir gets top 3 after being 4th this year, that would get tricky because that's pretty good too.

I don't think they should re-run them, nor do I think they will.

BUT.

If they were to, the top 3 should get an advantage. Start the top 3 men 4 minutes before the rest of the field; start the top 3 women 5 minutes before the rest of the field. If someone is in such bad shape, or just has THAT bad of a day, that they can't still be top 3, they don't get to go.

There's about a thousand things wrong with this terrible idea, but how fun would it be to watch?!

They should show a rerun of the trails. I would watch it. Not really any other sports on TV. Maybe even show a rerun of 2016 Olympics. Entertainment channel could show a rerun of the swimmers getting in trouble.

what next wrote:

They should rerun it, but can the ones who qualified also go? Maybe expand the field, they deserve to go to the Olympics since they qualified.

WTF? No, they don't "deserve" to go to the Olympics, and they understand that.

They aren't some schlub hobbyjoggers trying to qualify to run the Boston Marathon.

They are elite athletes trying-out for a team. The purpose of the trials is to select the best team.

The Marathon trials only determine who is the best on the day they run it. The team has the right to go but there are no guarantees they will be at their best next time they race.

The trials was an official race with official results. Those six played by the rules and earned their spots, end of trials, end of story.

RuleMan wrote:

The trials was an official race with official results. Those six played by the rules and earned their spots, end of trials, end of story.

They earned their spot to the 2020 Olympic team NOT the 2021 Olympic team.

Put it this way--if they canceled the Olympics altogether, would we feel like those 6 runners would automatically get the USA spots for the next world championships.....I don't think anyone would argue that is the case.

What if things get delayed 2 years, surely no one would argue we should send people who ran a qualifying race 2 years ago?

The unfortunate part of all of this is that for the elite athletes in the field the trials takes away from what they could normally earn by racing a major marathon........

No easy decision here. We should probably just send Rupp, Ward, and Korir and call it good.