Will be a major focal point. Its going to be talked about during XC, during college football of course, including rumors about which programs may be cut. Then you start going into indoor and all eyes on Quincy Wilson.
Jess McClain was very gracious about the situation (that is, O’Keefe’s decision). And yet here you all are (with zero details, with zero inside info), piling on O’Keefe —
McClain would puke if she read your attacks.
Doesn’t mean that she’s not upset by it in private. She just has too much class to dump on her publicly. For me this whole thing was BS from O’Keefe and she knew it was. So it’s upsetting. If you can’t even run 5K then you should not run!!! 5k is a warm up jog. She knew this the whole week. And finishing a bit below your means or dropping at Km 30 with an injury flare I’d understand. Hobbling over the start like this has made me instantly dislike her. It’s selfish no matter how you turn it. And I’m certain it hurts like hell and is a stress fracture the way she ran. A tendon or muscle injury you can force a little bit for longer. This seemed to hurt at every step.
That’s really my only point — if the one person with real stakes in the O’Keefe decision takes the high road, there’s a good chance she’d want the same from us (especially as O’Keefe may be in a bad spot, physically and emotionally). McClain could have even said to O’Keefe — “Run. You’ve earned it.” Or McClain could’ve thought, “My friend Fiona is in a bad spot, so I’m going to not make it worse…”
But when I saw O’Keefe limping, I thought, “Oh, no, LRC is coming for her.”
The good thing is: runners know this place is a cesspool and largely ignore.
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This is so annoying. I want to be excited about Fiona as a marathoner because she has so much promise, but her career is going to be another case of a person with an eating disorder who misses every start line and explains it away like it’s not obvious to all of us. Tragic waste of talent.
Didn't Ritzenhein jog a lap of the Olympic 10K one year when he was injured?
Totally different, as there was nobody else to potentially fill his spot. The only other athletes with the standard were Kennedy who was injured and Meb who was running the marathon. That was the only reason Ritz was even in the race in the first place since he was already injured and finished last at the trials.
Honestly dk how I feel about starting, knowing you're injured + have no chance of finishing. American marathoners have made a habit of doing this over the years & it feels, well, very American. You saw Ethiopia give up a slot that resulted in a gold medal yesterday. I get that the spot was earned & you want to call yourself an Olympian but giving the spot up doesn't erase that imo. I think it's on the federation to be more organized. I have no idea if the 4th & 5th place finishers, for example, were preparing for the marathon, as if they were toeing the start line. I think in the future you invite top-5 to a training camp a couple weeks before the marathon & if a top-3 runner can't attend the camp because of injury then you swap them out.
((didn't go through the rest of the thread so not trying to trash her with the above -- I'm sure my reaction would be the same in her spot, need the federation to be the one to step in & be rational about putting the best team out there))
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
USATF looks bad on this one as they should've told her she can't run. But somehow they're not the worst federation for selection, that'd be Australia, who selected Izzie Batt-Doyle even though she had the fourth fastest time and had lost a head to head race to Laura Weightman during the qualification period. Weightman takes it to court but doesn't take it all the way to the Court of Arbitration because of cost. Australia gets very bad press, so to mitigate that, they select Weightman as the alternate. Sinead Diver gets plantar fasciitis during the build and basically can't even walk. Weightman inquires to Australia's federation about the condition of Diver, and says she's available to fly out. Australia's federation says "no need to, all is good." They tell Diver to start because they're made at Weightman for making them look bad. Diver walks 1200m and drops out. Absolutely pathetic.
USATF looks bad on this one as they should've told her she can't run. But somehow they're not the worst federation for selection, that'd be Australia, who selected Izzie Batt-Doyle even though she had the fourth fastest time and had lost a head to head race to Laura Weightman during the qualification period. Weightman takes it to court but doesn't take it all the way to the Court of Arbitration because of cost. Australia gets very bad press, so to mitigate that, they select Weightman as the alternate. Sinead Diver gets plantar fasciitis during the build and basically can't even walk. Weightman inquires to Australia's federation about the condition of Diver, and says she's available to fly out. Australia's federation says "no need to, all is good." They tell Diver to start because they're made at Weightman for making them look bad. Diver walks 1200m and drops out. Absolutely pathetic.
I’m horrified at the behaviour of AA and Diver. Have some respect for your fellow athletes.
Probably one of the worst decisions I've seen a runner make.
Sure, you earned your spot - but the job's not done until you deliver a performance that you can be proud of.
If you aren't capable of doing that (and she must've known this, given the state she was in right from the gun), then you're justing wasting somebody else's opportunity to have an actually worthwhile Olympic/lifechanging experience.
Doesn't seem like she achieved anything by starting this race other than tormenting herself, and rubbing a heck of a lot of people the wrong way.
USATF looks bad on this one as they should've told her she can't run. But somehow they're not the worst federation for selection, that'd be Australia, who selected Izzie Batt-Doyle even though she had the fourth fastest time and had lost a head to head race to Laura Weightman during the qualification period. Weightman takes it to court but doesn't take it all the way to the Court of Arbitration because of cost. Australia gets very bad press, so to mitigate that, they select Weightman as the alternate. Sinead Diver gets plantar fasciitis during the build and basically can't even walk. Weightman inquires to Australia's federation about the condition of Diver, and says she's available to fly out. Australia's federation says "no need to, all is good." They tell Diver to start because they're made at Weightman for making them look bad. Diver walks 1200m and drops out. Absolutely pathetic.
They did not select Izzie Batt-Doyle for the marathon, the 3 women selected were Sinead Diver, Jess Stenson and Gen Gregson.
If you're going to go to the trouble of writing a paragraph complaint about it, you should probably know what you're talking about.
Doesn’t mean that she’s not upset by it in private. She just has too much class to dump on her publicly. For me this whole thing was BS from O’Keefe and she knew it was. So it’s upsetting. If you can’t even run 5K then you should not run!!! 5k is a warm up jog. She knew this the whole week. And finishing a bit below your means or dropping at Km 30 with an injury flare I’d understand. Hobbling over the start like this has made me instantly dislike her. It’s selfish no matter how you turn it. And I’m certain it hurts like hell and is a stress fracture the way she ran. A tendon or muscle injury you can force a little bit for longer. This seemed to hurt at every step.
That’s really my only point — if the one person with real stakes in the O’Keefe decision takes the high road, there’s a good chance she’d want the same from us (especially as O’Keefe may be in a bad spot, physically and emotionally). McClain could have even said to O’Keefe — “Run. You’ve earned it.” Or McClain could’ve thought, “My friend Fiona is in a bad spot, so I’m going to not make it worse…”
But when I saw O’Keefe limping, I thought, “Oh, no, LRC is coming for her.”
The good thing is: runners know this place is a cesspool and largely ignore.
In the case, the cesspool is absolutely correct and O'keefe's behavior/decision, along with her team, is reprehensible.
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Such a tough moment to watch. We in this community should at least give her props for showing the toughness to toe the line injured. We salute you O’Keefe!