Ah but see, Amby wants the opposite of fair. His own words.
What would that be?
Rigged?
But then the qualifying system for the Trials is unfair according to you. Please explain why a race should not be held to determine what runners gain entrance into the Trials.
You say track is popular when the results matter. What does that even mean? The results matter to who? Please give examples of track meets where the results do not matter. I suppose at some level none of them matter, or they all matter, or they matter in varying degrees to various people at various times.
Go to any college regulat season meet or BU. The time/standard matter but no one really cares if they get 3rd vs fourth.
I"d argue basically every meet in the world save the Trials/Worlds/Euros/CGs are meets where the results don't really matter. You're basically watching practice.
Any meet in the world? Rojo, you're talking about professional athletes. How do you think they get paid? Diamond League and all pro road races pay according to place. First, second and third at the marathon trials got $80k, $65k, and $55k respectively.
WHEN I THINK ABOUT HOW LUCKY I WAS TO WIN the Boston Marathon in 1968, I often wonder what it would have been like to finish second. At those moments, I only have to reflect on Bill Clark's life. He was second at Boston in 19...
Isn't there a flaw in the trial for all events, and not just the marathon?
Think about the sprinter that is clearly superior to everyone else yet in the final is questionably DQ'd similar to how Devon Allen was in the 2022 World Championship final. It doesn't even need to be a questionable DQ. It could be a just DQ. That sprinter dominated the competition all year, has the fastest time in the world by a large margin, and false starts in the final. That is just one example, though there are others.
Conversely, the manner that many other countries choose teams, without trials, may be deemed to be too subjective. This leads to someone more deserving on the outside looking in.
If a sprinter that's "clearly superior" to everyone else false starts in what is basically a qualifying race and only needs to finish top three to make the team, that's on him. You can't athlete-proof results. The start is part of the race. If the "clearly superior" athlete can't execute that part of the race when he needs to, then perhaps he shouldn't be on the team.
I do not see how a medal count when you're discussing better and worse ways of selecting an Olympic team doesn't matter.
So the selection method is clearly better. Kenya has 7 woman medals and 8 men’s despite a population like 1/8th the US… and all the medals are like in the last 25 years. Or do you think factors other than selection criteria matter a lot more? If you have a half dozen sub 2:04 guys you are going to get a lot of medals. If you have 3 guys who can’t break 2:08, you aren’t..
That's a great point. If you get rid of the Trials, then shoe sponsors will only sponsor the Cole Hockers/Kesslers of the World.
People say track isn't popular. That's not true. Track is popular when the results matter. Think about it. State HS meets - popular. NCAA meet - popular. Trials/Olympics - popular.
High school track has one of the highest rates of participation in the USA.
I don't know what this means. Highest rates of participation out of high school students? Or out of the entire population? your post makes zero sense as I don't know what you mean