What do you think of 3 race semifinals?

[Slowrunner]

I hate it as well, especially in events where the first round becomes nearly meaningless. Take today's 200, you basically had to have a leg fall off to fail to qualify.

Anything under 40 entrants should be top 3 + 1 = 16

More than 40 (6 heats) becomes a problem - would top 2 + 2 = 16 work?

More than 56 (7 heats) would require a quarterfinal round. Top 4 + 4 = 32

How about a repachage round similar to rowing?

Let's say 7 heats...top 2 in each heat go directly to semis, third place plus fastest 4th place finisher to a heat where top 2 go to semis.

[wineturtle]

When there are THREE medals to be decided, NO RACE (heat or sf) should allow less than the THREE first across the line to qualify for the subsequent round.

THREE lane semi-finals should be purged from the championship calendar until every track conducting championships has NINE lanes to use in the final.

agree on both

[Seeksreal]

I agree 100% with Vault-emort! If there are more than 40 entrants there needs to be a quarter-final before semis.

[Halfmiler2]

It sometimes becomes a trade-off of three choices:

1. A three-heat semi;
2. An extra round; or
3. Using nine lanes instead of eight.

I'd vote for the last as being the least bad choice.

With nine lanes, it is possible to run up to 54 athletes in three rounds with at least top three always advancing and a two-heat semi. With eight lanes, the limit for this is only 40 athletes.

Also, with nine lanes, if a three-heat semi-final is unavoidable, at least the top three in each semi-final advance to the final.

And when the ninth lane is not being otherwise used, it gives the referee/jury additional options when there is a worthy protest.

The bottom line is that an OG or WC track should always have nine lanes. Use only eight if possible but have a ninth lane available for when it is needed.

[kuha]

I'm sorry, I thought the athletes were the most important part of the champs, not the TV Networks.

Oh, my!

Not since about 1960, I'd guess...

[Smoke]

This brought a tear to my eye. I thought I was alone in this. As a acoach of 4hers I have been dealing with this foolishness for at least ten years.

It is not the three heats, as has been mentioned. It is the simple fact that you can take second in your heat and end up in lane one for the final! I have had it happen twice to my athletes and it definitely affected their races (Hadi 01 and Tasha 07). Meanwhile a timed qualifier ends up in lane seven or eight.
Now one possible balance to this isiocy is the new lane draw rules, which apparently the IAAF are not using this year.

The fairest way is either 9 lanes, or 2 heat semis and take the top three plus 2. In straight races it has to be top 4 to eliminate the wind from being a factor.

[Marlow]

Love it!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Three semis makes everyone MORE competitive, plus there's 24 athletes under the gun, not just 16.

The word 'semis' means whatever we deem it to mean! If we say that IN THIS CONTEXT it simply means the round that precedes the Final, then that's exactly what it is.

[kreynolds]

First off, I don't like three semifinals, either.

If you look at:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/semifinal
the definition says, "of or pertaining to the round preceding the final one in a tournament from which losers are eliminated."

But if you look at:
http://www.answers.com/topic/semi-final
the second definition says, "One of the two competitions of the next to the last round in an elimination tournament."

So the prefix 'semi' can seem to mean either 'half' or 'partial':
http://lookwayup.com/lwu.exe/lwu/d?s=f&w=semi#a/484484
and the IAAF has taken this to heart.

Given that track and field's use of semi-final has historically meant two races leading to the final, perhaps we should lobby for a new term. How about mero-final? Or Poly-semifinal? Elimination final? I'm sure others can think of more useful terms.

[rabalac]

Next thing you know, they will be having five "quarter" finals.

[Powell]

It is not the three heats, as has been mentioned. It is the simple fact that you can take second in your heat and end up in lane one for the final! I have had it happen twice to my athletes and it definitely affected their races (Hadi 01 and Tasha 07). Meanwhile a timed qualifier ends up in lane seven or eight.

You're not up to date. Seeding rules were changed last year, so it can't happen now.

[Marlow]

perhaps we should lobby for a new term.

Why, we all perfectly understand what the IAAF means by 'semis' now - the second to last round. I guess we could call it the 'penultimates'!

[Halfmiler2]

Given that track and field's use of semi-final has historically meant two races leading to the final, perhaps we should lobby for a new term. How about mero-final? Or Poly-semifinal? Elimination final? I'm sure others can think of more useful terms.

Penultimates? I bet Bob Hersh would like that! :wink:

[cacique]

Next thing you know, they will be having five "quarter" finals.

it's been done, i'm sure.

look, if you ask athletes, i bet many would prefer 3 semis and one less round.

[Al in NYC]

Bring back the quarter-finals!! No more tri-final semi[sic]-finals!!

One of the dumbest, most infuriating trends in modern T&F. Even better yet, of course, would be to further limit the fields to truly elite athletes, but that's a non-starter for obvious political reasons.

[Slowrunner]

What is the protocol if in a 3-semi scenario, two athletes tie for the 2nd fastest time among 3rd/4th place finishers? Especially given Berlin only has 8 lanes. Let's root for that!