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The window for qualifying for the USATF championships, which gone back to early May in recent years, only goes back to July 5, 2002 for this year's (the 2003) meet. Athletes and others only seem to be finding this out when they open up the entry form (or web window).
While I see the reasons for accepting times from almost 14 months ago, the implementation seems untimely, particularly since the 2004 Olympic Trials timeframe will allow performance back to _January 1, 2003_, 18 months.
Might it have better included at least starting at the previous year's National meet (if an athlete achieved it ther, they'd gain entry for the following year)? Would it have made more sense to start this after 2004?
Such a major change (my opinion is that it's major) would have best been announced in a larger font to a larger crowd as soon as it was decided. It's sort of tough to add events for the post collegiate athlete schedule when they're often at the mercy of college invitational entry requirements. And there's a lot of inertia to overcome to get new meets out of the blocks, begininng with access to facilities (at least in New England).
Anyone know of athletes - like 10,000 runners - who are going to have scramble to get a mark?
Steve
While I see the reasons for accepting times from almost 14 months ago, the implementation seems untimely, particularly since the 2004 Olympic Trials timeframe will allow performance back to _January 1, 2003_, 18 months.
Might it have better included at least starting at the previous year's National meet (if an athlete achieved it ther, they'd gain entry for the following year)? Would it have made more sense to start this after 2004?
Such a major change (my opinion is that it's major) would have best been announced in a larger font to a larger crowd as soon as it was decided. It's sort of tough to add events for the post collegiate athlete schedule when they're often at the mercy of college invitational entry requirements. And there's a lot of inertia to overcome to get new meets out of the blocks, begininng with access to facilities (at least in New England).
Anyone know of athletes - like 10,000 runners - who are going to have scramble to get a mark?
Steve
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