High Jump Injustice at the Olympic Trials?

[TN1965]

It's completely reasonable for them to refuse to pay for her trip (and related admin/legal/logistic/etc costs) for those reasons.

But if she will provide the funds, and they still refuse, then what is the reason? Pride? That she'll bring shame upon Sweden by being eliminated in the semifinals?

I was just commenting on your point that sending her would benefit her future career growth.
If she were in her early 20s, and this would have been her first Olympics, they could have made a different decision.

[Conor Dary]

That she'll bring shame upon Sweden by being eliminated in the semifinals?

For some administrative official....you bet...

[booond]

Given she is 29, and her PB is from 2017, it's not likely that she will run another PB this year. And she already got her Olympic experience in Rio. So I don't think running in another Olympics, especially in the empty stadium, is likely to help her prepare for future championships.

She will be 30 tomorrow - Happy Birthday your career is over.

She has a higher ranking than Mu. Why? She has run in many Euro meets with a higher ranking than Mu's meets. Mu beat the world ranking leader at the OT and scored 100 placement points while Lindh earned 120 and 130 points running in Oslo and Stockholm and placing 5th and 6th.

[18.99s]

Given she is 29, and her PB is from 2017, it's not likely that she will run another PB this year. And she already got her Olympic experience in Rio. So I don't think running in another Olympics, especially in the empty stadium, is likely to help her prepare for future championships.

It's completely reasonable for them to refuse to pay for her trip (and related admin/legal/logistic/etc costs) for those reasons.

But if she will provide the funds, and they still refuse, then what is the reason? Pride? That she'll bring shame upon Sweden by being eliminated in the semifinals?

[Conor Dary]

Given she is 29, and her PB is from 2017, it's not likely that she will run another PB this year. And she already got her Olympic experience in Rio. So I don't think running in another Olympics, especially in the empty stadium, is likely to help her prepare for future championships.

Yeah....time to move on. Athletics except for a very few is not a career.

[TN1965]

Dumb. If it's a money issue, at least give the athlete the option of paying their own way.

And it's not just about winning medals or reaching the final right now; it's also about getting Olympic experience so they'll be better prepared in future World champs and Olympic games, rather than underperforming due to being overwhelmed by the grandeur of it all, like what happened to SydMac in Rio.

And a PB in the Olympics could attract sponsorship that a struggling athlete needs to quit their day job and train full time for the next Games.

Given she is 29, and her PB is from 2017, it's not likely that she will run another PB this year. And she already got her Olympic experience in Rio. So I don't think running in another Olympics, especially in the empty stadium, is likely to help her prepare for future championships.

[Conor Dary]

Who knows...but I doubt it is cost of taking the runner...they are only sending 3 women runners and 2 are in the 10,000....and the other in the marathon...races with only finals..

Unlike the US many European AFs these days are at the mercy of the government....who won't notice a Swede is not in an event but will notice the failure when an athlete doesn't advance to the final. As I said it is not uncommon.

[18.99s]

...and as far as I know the IOC doesn’t allow individuals to come on their own...

I didn't mean going on their own. I meant letting the athlete join the team if the athlete will pay the costs associated with being added to the team and traveling to Tokyo to compete.

So if her presence on the team would cost the Swedish federation an extra 15,000 Euros in travel and other such expenses, let her pay the federation the 15K so she can go.

Leaving a qualified athlete at home is reasonable if there is a need to control costs, but not if the athlete will provide the money for it. The Jamaican bobsled team did that a few years ago (2014?) by raising money via GoFundMe.

[Conor Dary]

Dumb. If it's a money issue, at least give the athlete the option of paying their own way.

And it's not just about winning medals or reaching the final right now; it's also about getting Olympic experience so they'll be better prepared in future World champs and Olympic games, rather than underperforming due to being overwhelmed by the grandeur of it all, like what happened to SydMac in Rio.

And a PB in the Olympics could attract sponsorship that a struggling athlete needs to quit their day job and train full time for the next Games.

This has happened many times before...even Britain..federations politely telling their athletes it is time to move on....

...and as far as I know the IOC doesn’t allow individuals to come on their own...

As for sponsorship that is putting a huge load on could..... Sweden isn't a cheap place to live. Besides Mondo how many Swedish track athletes have any sponsorship now?

Britain is the most popular European country for track and almost all their athletes depend on government lottery money.

[18.99s]

So much for European countries investing in the sport. See article on home page re: Lovisa Lindh, Swedish 800m runner. Ranked 22nd in the world, SOC won't send her to Tokyo because (they don't think) she has a real shot at making the final.

Dumb. If it's a money issue, at least give the athlete the option of paying their own way.

And it's not just about winning medals or reaching the final right now; it's also about getting Olympic experience so they'll be better prepared in future World champs and Olympic games, rather than underperforming due to being overwhelmed by the grandeur of it all, like what happened to SydMac in Rio.

And a PB in the Olympics could attract sponsorship that a struggling athlete needs to quit their day job and train full time for the next Games.

[Atticus]

So much for European countries investing in the sport. See article on home page re: Lovisa Lindh, Swedish 800m runner. Ranked 22nd in the world, SOC won't send her to Tokyo because (they don't think) she has a real shot at making the final.

And she doesn't, but I hope that's not the point. She has done very well and her country should support those kinds of athletes. Pretty discouraging to those who are coming up or sticking around to have a shot at being an Olympian.

[Steele]

So much for European countries investing in the sport. See article on home page re: Lovisa Lindh, Swedish 800m runner. Ranked 22nd in the world, SOC won't send her to Tokyo because (they don't think) she has a real shot at making the final.

[sprintjump]

Fair enough, but I just see a protocol that, at least in my eye, has more weight than a meet ranking system. Many of us have been to mid-season collegiate meets where an event was simply the best competition on the planet for that particular event, but as some have mentioned, those meets rank poorly. The final mark for the competitors didn't really mean much, even though it was a significant result.

Some athletes are receiving credit for competitions that were nearly three years ago, and their whole world has changed since then. They are not that competitor anymore. That's just pure silly.

[NotDutra5]

Why can't a system be devised based on an average over a required number of competitions? Very broadly, but something like a minimum of eight competitions over an eligible time period that closes just before a country's national championships.

This is derived from my point of Jelena Rowe actually being the #2/#3 jumper for the season of 2021. Her season average is over 1.90... McP - 1.88... Ty Townsend - 1.85

This proposal is again, very broad, but would something like this be possible?

I think it would be pretty difficult to enact. Also....would this be applicable to all events as I doubt the rules would be written differently for each of the standard T&F events as to qualifications.

Plus this would all be because of the plight of one athlete who, at the very least, was a periphery athlete on the world stage. We've had much bigger flops (including at this year's OT) which have not caused a change in procedure to this point.

[ATK]

Why can't a system be devised based on an average over a required number of competitions? Very broadly, but something like a minimum of eight competitions over an eligible time period that closes just before a country's national championships.

This is derived from my point of Jelena Rowe actually being the #2/#3 jumper for the season of 2021. Her season average is over 1.90... McP - 1.88... Ty Townsend - 1.85

This proposal is again, very broad, but would something like this be possible?

Though I would love athletes to compete often, not every athlete has equal access to competitions (not even just high quality/acceptable) or are dealing win injury and recovery so cant compete as often. Also not every country has a national championships or require all athletes to compete at it.