re "purposefully drop out after goosing the points," if you want some entertainment, check out victor's stat line in the decathlon. last place, 2616 points. 10.7 100m, NM (2 attempts) LJ, NM SP, NH (1 attempt) HJ, DNF (ran 200) 400, 14.9 110H, NM discus, 4.75 PV, NM (1 attempt) Jav, DNF (ran 800) 1500. finished/scored -- 3/10 of the events.
re "purposefully drop out after goosing the points," if you want some entertainment, check out victor's stat line in the decathlon. last place, 2616 points. 10.7 100m, NM (2 attempts) LJ, NM SP, NH (1 attempt) HJ, DNF (ran 200) 400, 14.9 110H, NM discus, 4.75 PV, NM (1 attempt) Jav, DNF (ran 800) 1500. finished/scored -- 3/10 of the events.
It matters who gets "olympian" next to their name. If it doesn't, why care about sport at all?
When we have steeplechase chase guys running 7:57-8:05, then who makes the team matters. When there's a tiny chance that an American will actually make the final and zero chance of an American even appearing on the final straightaway when the winner crosses the line, then I don't think these ancillary little benefits mean anything.
And how do we get steeplers running those times - well one way is to get them in high quality meets like Olympics. Being on the team is a huge carrot and maybe this cycle it’s not as competitive but giving a young guy a chance helps both him and the event. Besides you never know what might happen - just look at the women’s steeple.
Your first point is moot. Corrigan proved twice this weekend that he’s a higher-level competitor right now than Jager. He ran faster than Jager has in two years, AND beat him head to head. So I guess I agree with you–the level of competitors SHOULD dictate Olympic qualification. Not Corrigan’s fault ncaa meets don’t accumulate WA points.
In a weird way, it’s the current qualification system that is causing this issue…if it was simply a top-3, this would all be easy. And if we did it like the marathon (athletes from a country “unlock” spots [for track, maybe we could do this by hitting the Olympic standard OR being in the top-36 in points], and whoever gets top-3 claims those spots), that’d probably work, too.
But I don’t think this is exposing a flawed system, rather it’s the result of the flawed system itself. Corrigan is the better athlete right now, and probably gives us a better shot at a medal (long shot, but still more likely than Jager), so he should go.
This system is insane. The idea that you can get someone to dump money into a meet to make someone able to qualify with a lesser time is basically the definition of corruption. I don’t care one iota if Corrigan or Jager gets the 3rd spot, but $ at a meet shouldn’t be a factor.
You say that, but that’s essentially why Jager’s ranking is so high. It’s taking his NACAC performance from 2022, which had a high bonus ranking points due to prize money and regional championship status. Frankly, it’s stupid that score is still taken into account two years later.
Surely this "money maneuver" has been done before, in some country or another. In any case, the meet reclassification benefits all participants, not just Corrigan.
The trials race should be the final piece of information for selectors, not time trials a week later. That is, USATF should apply world rankings as of trials, not garbage like this. (Send Jager.)
The trials doesn’t end until Sunday. Nor does the qualifying window.
Is it really "screwing" Corrigan out of the points, in a competitive sport situation? Is it somehow classless to compete for a spot at the Olympics? No, it's not. I honestly hate the ranking system precisely for this reason. WA needs to go back to a time standard, make it reasonable instead of insane like it is now, and then we can go back to the old way of knowing who was and wasn't on the team as soon as the Trials results were official.
I bet if Jager went to this Penn meet, sat on corrigan the entire time, and just outkicked him the final 100 to ensure that Corrigan didn't get the points.
I feel like this race already happened. At the Olympic trials 😂
It doesn't really matter. The U.S. is hopelessly weak in the steeplechase, with ZERO chance of a medal. And zero chance of even being in sight when the winner crosses the line.
Does anyone who struggles to qualify in any event ever make a 8 lane final or finish close to the medallists?
In 2022, Leticia Oro Melo from Brazil was one of the lowest ranked athletes in the world (partially because she was only able to get into low level meets in South America and such) was able to get a Bronze in the long jump after getting a PB in the rounds on her last jump to get into the finals.