UK Women's 800m

[SteveK26]

Kermit wrote

My lotto money is only sending 1 athlete in this event when their rules allow for 3. Why


Because, put very simply, the selectors are paid to make judgements. In their view Sharp offered better value for your (and everyone elses) money than the other contenders in the W800.

[Kermit]

So if Lindsay is better value for money then she is going to get in the top 8 yes?

[SteveK26]

Kermit
I didn't say whether I agreed with their decision, although I can see why you might infer that I did.

Like everyone else, I've thought long and hard about what I might have done in their position.
I would have wanted Jenny Meadows in London above all else. But she is badly injured, and she knows it as well as anyone.If she had been able to reassure CVC that she would be fit in 2 or 3 weeks time I bet the decision would have been different. But my guess is she told him how it was, and bang went any hope for her.She has integrity, and is a wonderful example to all.
Similarly Jackson was probably unable to offer realistic assurances about her fitness.
So that leaves Simpson, Okoro and Sharp, all who were in full health at the trials.Simpson has no great pedigree at Champs to warrant being selected over Sharp, and Sharp has beaten her the last two occasions they met...and quite convincingly in Helsinki.
So that just leaves Maz and Lynsey. If you have one , you can't have the other. Not an easy decision, imo.
Lottery money doesn't really come into it. Who would I have picked, based on this scenario?......Sharp.

Edit... and will she get top 8? Maybe , but unlikely. And I would say exactly the same about Maz, had she got the nod.

[SteveK26]

Just to add....
The reason I thought the selectors would be 'barmy' to select Sharp over the others was because of the outcry it would cause. I never thought they would take the difficult path.Plus I hoped Jenny would get in.
Obviously CVC and the others on the panel would be more clued up about everyones current fitness prospects than I am.

I would be far more concerned about the treatment given to our womens relay squad. CVC is way out of line on that one.

[Ecosse]

Steve, very nicely explained.

On face value it does seem a very strange choice but when you analyse it logically you can see why the selectors made their decision.

Tbh I think the leaving out of Danny Talbot in the 200 (especially as he's there for the relay) and Gareth in the 800 are more contentious decisions. But that's for another thread!

[SteveK26]

Thanks, Ecosse.
And, like everyone else, I also feel great sadness for Maz. And it IS a shame they both couldn't go, but thats just the way things panned out.

[olympic]

If Maz Emma and Jemma went or Maz Emma and Jenny went or Maz Emma and opportunity to get sharp the A this week or Maz Emma Jenny sharP reserve based on getting A;

All this would have made sense and give us all glimmer of hope and a chance In what can be an unpredictable event

[Kermit]

Anybody selected to the relay squads can be upgraded to an individual event. Therefore if Linsey were to run the A standard Maz could could be upgraded.

[SteveK26]

Kermit
If Maz reads this board I'm sure she would be heart-warmed by the support she generates. She has a lot of fans. Rightly so.
And wouldn't we all be so happy if the scenario you just painted, happens.
But where would Lynsey achieve the A standard in the next week or so? Is she even likely to race again before London?

[ultragirl]

I think you are right, we all love Maz and all of us want her to perform to a level we all know she can, London could well have been the setting for her arrival But I am sure we all know just how much ego stroking attention these selectors get by making contentious choices, they just feed off of it this is why we need a system which the BOA can administer in an independent pragmatic way.

[Kermit]

There is a 600m race tonight in Belgium which could of been upgraded to 800m, there is a 800m in Paris on Friday and one in Madrid on Saturday.

It appears that the appeals panel will be very busy. They will be listening to 3 appeals relating to the 800m + Warburton's

[Kermit]

Three of the four women overlooked for 800 metres slots at the Olympics have lodged appeals against their exclusion from Team GB.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/olympi ... squad.html

[AEW]

Per the Scottish Athletics website Lynsey is going to run the 800m at the Aviva grand prix on 13th July. if she were to run the A standard would that be too late to upgrade a relay squad member (already named in the Olympic Team) to an individual event? I suspect it is but unsure of rules here!

[mump boy]

Per the Scottish Athletics website Lynsey is going to run the 800m at the Aviva grand prix on 13th July. if she were to run the A standard would that be too late to upgrade a relay squad member (already named in the Olympic Team) to an individual event? I suspect it is but unsure of rules here!

We've all asked that question and nobody has an answer

[mump boy]

Maz just smashed Kelly's the UK 600m record with 1.24.36 6th all time

[Kermit]

I wonder if that will be taken into consideration at tomorrow's appeal hearing.

To answer the question that nobody has an answer to - it is my belief that all athletes are provisional until 24 hours before the event starts.

[mump boy]

7th didn't realise Jelimo beat her

[djlovesyou]

Maz just smashed Kelly's the UK 600m record with 1.24.36 6th all time

Not in bad shape then?

[Flumpy]

WOW!!!

That's over a second off

[Laps]

Maz just smashed Kelly's the UK 600m record with 1.24.36 6th all time

Which says it all really. Shame there isn't an Olympic 600m just for Maz.

[trevorp]

That's probably her optimal distance - if only it were an Olympic event!

[djlovesyou]

She doesn't strike me as a particularly angry person, but I'm guessing that race was run whilst feeling an element of frustration.

It's just a shame she can't just be added. I certainly doubt they'll change anything given the need to drop someone else in order to do so.

[Kermit]

DJ what that run does is actually disprove one of the reasons that Maz was omitted - She has clearly shown that she is in form, so what else can they throw at her? Lynsey should run at Leap and get the A standard, then there would be no problem.

[Exile]

DJ what that run does is actually disprove one of the reasons that Maz was omitted - She has clearly shown that she is in form, so what else can they throw at her? Lynsey should run at Leap and get the A standard, then there would be no problem.

I don't think the selectors doubted that she was in shape - the 57 first lap and 27.5 first 200m at the trials probably told them that. I think they doubt that she has the discipline to run a sound and sensible tactical race at the Olympics when it counts. As good as this 600m run is, it sadly doesn't do anything to alter that.

And that comes from a Maz fan and someone who would have liked her to have been picked.

[Ashton]

The thing is though- she's always been a 600m runner!
its the other 200m that's the problem!

I personally wouldn't take her - nothing against the lass but she'd never make the final in a million years...

CVC knows that and hence Lindsay's inclusion.

[Armchair Runner]

It may have been said before but I think the A/B criteria were never meant to be used in this way. Surely they were devised to allow countries to select a single athlete for weak events where they didn't have athletes meeting the higher selction standard. I think the selection panel have exploted a loophole

[mump boy]

It may have been said before but I think the A/B criteria were never meant to be used in this way. Surely they were devised to allow countries to select a single athlete for weak events where they didn't have athletes meeting the higher selction standard. I think the selection panel have exploted a loophole

Exactly

and as i have said before, even USA with the most cutthroat selection policy possible, would never take 1 B when there are multiple A's no matter if the B won the trials. They will only take a single B if they win the trials and there is only a singe A.

It obviously makes sense to take as many athletes as possible especially when they are ones who have achieved a higher standard

[gp72]

I did feel that after the trials Maz needed to run another 800m to "redeem" herself. I still feel that. Obviously someone on the selection panel felt that way also. If I had been her advisor I would have booked her into another 800m within the week and had her run her heart out(over the 2nd 400m:).

Last year she went out and got the qualifying time after the trials- in a low key meet. She should have done that this year.

[gp72]

Let me clarify that I know she had the qualifying time this year. What I am just trying to get across...was she needed a "redemption run" in which she again ran the A standard time.

[paul]

which is one of the reasons why last night was so sad.

it appeared to signal a giving up of the fight. (for which I would not blame Maz BTW. its just sad for me as a fan.)