WC 50km opened to women

[Halfmiler2]

Particularly having the competition at the same time as the Men makes it easy logistically.

It is good to get it off the ground even at the last minute and work then to make it better in 2019.

[Powell]

Women's 50k walk has now been added to the program of the 2018 Euro Champs. A little more sensible than the whole WC farce, but I still think 8 months is not nearly enough of an advance warning. Among men, a lot of athletes go for qualifying in the year preceding the championships and they don't compete over the distance during the year. The women won't have that option.

Also, I believe in the past whenever a new event was added to the championship program, the decision was made a couple of years in advance. It just makes sense to do it this way. So, while I support the addition in principle, I just don't understand the haste. It will only make for championship races which are not of proper championship standard.

[MJR]

Which is exactly the way Damilano wants it. He is hoping that this experiment fails and is setting things up to assure that is the only outcome. Kind of how USATF treats the whole discipline, top to bottom.

[polevaultpower]

Also, I believe in the past whenever a new event was added to the championship program, the decision was made a couple of years in advance. It just makes sense to do it this way. So, while I support the addition in principle, I just don't understand the haste. It will only make for championship races which are not of proper championship standard.

Sometimes that's the only way to get things done. The IAAF/track bodies have had decades to set up a proper time table for including the event and they did not. So if the first few events are a little thin on quality performances, so be it. You have to start somewhere.

Coe could have made this a priority when he took over and he did not.

[Powell]

Sometimes that's the only way to get things done.

It wasn't the way they added women's steeplechase, or PV and HT before that, or TJ a few years earlier, or any other event for that matter.

[MJR]

No, it wasn't, but in this case it was. Time to move on.

[polevaultpower]

It wasn't the way they added women's steeplechase, or PV and HT before that, or TJ a few years earlier, or any other event for that matter.

But we hit a roadblock with Women's Decathlon and 50k RW. The path that worked for those other events has not worked for these events, and if women are ever going to get the opportunity to participate in them, a different path must be taken.

[aaronk]

Never been an official coach--but I did sort of guide some people along---especially as beginning runners.

My main mantra was that the most difficult part of becoming a distance runner was the move from zero to 5 miles!
Once you got through the beginner's aches & pains (physically & mentally), the moves from 5 to 10 (miles), or from 10 to 20, or from 10 miles to the marathon---would be a piece of cake--the only "barrier" being the chunk of time it took to complete your daily runs.

What does this have to do with this thread?

For Walkers, the most difficult part is the move from zero to 5K!
Once you can Walk 5K comfortably, the moves from 5 to 10K, or from 10 to 20K, or from 20 to 50K is evermore easier!!

In other words, if we want a strong viable field of entrants in the 50K Walk for Women, we first have to build an army of 5K'ers & 10K'ers, then 20K'ers----who might be willing to, or want, to move up to the 50!

Just as the Men have over the years!
Many 20K guys have successfully done the 50K!

Given time---and the opportunities---it can be the same for Women!!

But any interference from USATF or IAAF or the USOC or IOC---is counter-productive!!
And will lead to what happened in London last year---the KIDNAPPING of 2 Women off the course because their eventual PR's were going to miss the cut-off point by a few measly minutes!!

Why would any woman want to sacrifice the 100's & 1000's of hours it takes to train for the 50K----if they know that their efforts would go for naught, as they did for those 2 victims in London??
That must NEVER happen again!!!

NO EXCUSES, KIDNAPPERS!!!!

[Powell]

Time to move on.

I'll quote that next time you start b*tching about a decision made by the IAAF