2021 mOG 4x1: you sure you wanna open this one?

[AS]

I get jet lag after driving for 5 hours. I thought all along these Games should have been cancelled.
The people of Japan right now might well agree.

The Games should have been cancelled because USTAF/USOC make terrible decisions?? I don't see the logic.

[cladthin]

I get jet lag after driving for 5 hours. I thought all along these Games should have been cancelled.
The people of Japan right now might well agree.

I was incorrect in the number of days- I believe many came into Tokyo closer to 4-5 days prior to their event start which did not allow some to snap out of jet lag.

[Powell]

I was incorrect in the number of days- I believe many came into Tokyo closer to 4-5 days prior to their event start which did not allow some to snap out of jet lag.

From what I've heard, it's actually better to jump straight into competition after travelling across multiple time zones than to allow a few days after travel, but not enough to fully adjust. In any case, many teams travelled to Japan a couple of weeks before the OG; I don't know why the US didn't.

[etuoyo]

Agreed...as great as Lewis was as an individual performer he took those relays dead serious...no "let's get everyone a medal" dumbshit.

Lewis did miss out on Olympics gold in 1988 because he sat out the heats (understandable given that he did 100m, 200m and King jump) and US got disqualified in the heats. If I recall correctly it was the final changeover that led to the DQ which is where Lewis would have been if he ran the heat.

[cladthin]

From what I've heard, it's actually better to jump straight into competition after travelling across multiple time zones than to allow a few days after travel, but not enough to fully adjust. In any case, many teams travelled to Japan a couple of weeks before the OG; I don't know why the US didn't.

Yes, it's likely better to either arrive only a day or two prior to competition or arrive early enough where you can start the competition approximately no earlier than day 6,7,or 8. A week or more would have likely been better.

They did not do it because they cancelled their Tokyo training camp back in May due to wanting to limit time/exposure of the athletes to the COVID surge in Japan.

[58Commander]

I wish NBC would get rid of the head on view of the second leg. It’s useless to tell who is gaining on who. And that was the leg with 100m gold medalist from Italy. For this race, they need to go with the stadium view and stick with it. I like to see where everyone is at as the race develops.

[beebee]

Speaking of Lewis...unless an athlete is doing multiple events like Carl and is honestly preoccupied...no relay camp, no relay duty...

Let's stop the outdated "tradition" of giving automatic slots to any athlete.

[ItalianFan]

It's neither 6, nor 5. The maximum pool size was changed to 8 a couple of years ago. Per rule 12.4.7 of the World Athletics Series regulations https://worldathletics.org/download/download?filename=34a74ad4-037f-4f69-91b2-cf1942609ef4.pdf&urlslug=C1.2%20-%20World%20Athletics%20Series%20Regulations%20(ame nded%20on%2012%20March%202020)

Every Member may enter one team for each relay race, composed by a maximum of eight athletes. Any four athletes among those entered for the competition, whether for the relay or for any other event, may then be used in the composition of the team for the first round

As indicated in the document, rule 12.4.7 is for World Indoor Championships. And rule 3.4.3 is for Outdoor World Championships.
For Olympic Games, you have to reference to this:https://media.aws.iaaf.org/competiti...5a782e3a78.pdf
Olympics have total quota of athletes per sport set by IOC. So rules are slighter different.

[Scratch_leg]

From what I've gathered, our national teams practice relays like some basketball teams practice free throws -- not too seriously. But I'm guessing that national team members in this country aren't together often enough to practice relays. After watching some of the other teams, I would assume that's not the case in those countries.

From my observation… I think it has become pure arrogance on both the coaches and the runners. The coaches assuming they have an embarrassment of riches with “ fast athletes” with fast times, and athletes that have probably run relays their entire lives from junior high school thru college and just assume they can still get the job done without to much practice(effort). Like the old saying goes… “practice makes perfect” I guess it will all change when the collective gets tired of losing. Just my 2 cents…

[Track78]

I wish NBC would get rid of the head on view of the second leg. It’s useless to tell who is gaining on who. And that was the leg with 100m gold medalist from Italy. For this race, they need to go with the stadium view and stick with it. I like to see where everyone is at as the race develops.

Yes!! That leg had the both the men's and women's gold medallists in the 100m and you couldn't even really see them run. Thankfully the CBC feed had the usual side shot, yay Canada!

[Track78]

Su looked like he got the baton in a dead heat with the Brits and got smoked on the curve. Maybe he would have been better on the anchor?

Take into account that Su was running on the outside of the Brits, he is running a longer distance as the stagger evens out. The inside runner will always be looking like they are going faster because of that illusion. The most early example of when I realized this is in 88 when Flo Jo looked like she was doing little damage to the German on her inside, but it was only because of the stagger.

[gm]

Good point, didn't think about that. I was just trying to think of a way where the relay team has actually competed together before.

In more normal non-Covid years there have been opportunities for the relays to run in a couple Euro meets before the championship meets.

[Track78]

Who cares about Coleman? He reaped his deserved reward.

And he probably would have gone the same way as those other absolute certainties - Bromell, Lyles, Norman, Holloway.

Man, I'm with you. Why do people keep bringing up Coleman as if he was done an injustice or a victim of circumstances and we miss him and cant wait til he's back, watch out blah blah blah. The reason for his ban is highly suspicious and I'm glad he was punished.

[Weights&Shoes]

I wish NBC would get rid of the head on view of the second leg. It’s useless to tell who is gaining on who. And that was the leg with 100m gold medalist from Italy. For this race, they need to go with the stadium view and stick with it. I like to see where everyone is at as the race develops.

Agreed. I hate it also.

[Weights&Shoes]

Correct. He looked like he knew he got nipped at the line, and then was upset. But then after the cool photo op with the 9 medalists he seemed to be in better spirits.

It's less a failure on him than an "atta boy" to Tortu who did everything perfectly.

That photo op, with Laura Muir included was a great moment.

And yeah Tortu ran a PERFECT anchor leg. I can't keep gushing over how much I love his form. Like I mentioned earlier, Michael Johnson said he ran a perfect leg and broke down Tortu's perfect technique vs. NMB.

Tortu, Del Ponte, Sha'Carri, Steven Gardiner, Thompson and SMU technically are beautiful to watch when they get going.

not that i follow japanese athletics, but i noticed a lot of the youngsters have not lived up to their early potential. not just sani brown, but also kiryu (who ran 10,00 in HS) or yamagata. shota izuka was a junior 200 m world champion l but hasn’t progressed and only ran in the heats here.

they really miss someone like asahara, who also knew how to run the anchor leg.

china (with 2 sub-10 runners) broke a national record but their anchor (wu, a 10.11 runner) couldn’t hold off degrasse. i wonder if having SBT on anchor would have helped.

I don't know WHY China keeps putting Su on 3rd leg. I think this is like 4th straight major championship he's ran that leg.