wejo wrote:
I just became aware of this thread. I retitled it as Amby deserves mention.
The Olympic Marathon Trials are amazing and shouldn't be touched. They are not only a way to select the US Olympic Marathon Team, they are a celebration of distance running the US.
Do not touch them.
Hundreds of runners keep competing in the US just to make the Trials. These are the most influential runners in every community.
Without the Trials, there wouldn't be a LetsRun.
Sure a committee some years could pick a better Olympic Team SOME years. Some years I think they'd pick a worse one.
A committee wouldn't have picked Molly Seidel in 2020 and wouldn't have picked Fiona O'Keeffe this year. I guess the argument is they would have made their debuts earlier. But a committee is going to reward past performance generally over current form/potential which a Trials shoes.
If they were ever to get rid of the Trials I think going with something like the Japanese system would be the way to go. Top 2 guaranteed and 3rd discretionary spot. But this is America and the American way is top 3 across the line make the team.
Any thoughts on your moderator telling Boston Marathon Winner Amby Burfoot to "STFU" because he felt insulted by Amby's opinion piece and because Amby dared to try to spark a discussion?
I would ban malmo for life.
Instead you'll probably delete this post.