Athletics 2021

Forge83

Hamachi wrote: »

Jaysus. What a **** show. She was rapidly becoming the poster girl for the sport and now this. I’ve read that she grew up in very difficult circumstances, but you would have to wonder how she lacks such basic common sense. Looks like Jenna Prandini will be going in both the 100m and 200m.

The two Namibian sensations, Christine Mboma and Beatrice Masilingi, have also been withdrawn from the 400m in the olympics. They both emerged this year, with Mboma recently running 48:5x in Poland. For context, Swiety-Ersetic, a world championship finalist in Doha, was 3 seconds behind. The speculation is that both athletes may be intersex. They will however be eligible to compete in the 200m. Another PR disaster waiting to happen..

The big issue will be that Mboma could actually medal and possibly win the 200m if somebody has taught her to use blocks.If she beats the likes of Fraser Pryce, Asher Smith or Gabby Thomas there will be uproar and the rules will be changed again.

gavinoontheweb

Forge83 wrote: »

The big issue will be that Mboma could actually medal and possibly win the 200m if somebody has taught her to use blocks.If she beats the likes of Fraser Pryce, Asher Smith or Gabby Thomas there will be uproar and the rules will be changed again.

Same issue with Niger's Aminatou Seyni, looked so good in during the heat in Doha I was surprised she didn't qualify for the final. However, from what I saw from Mboma in Bydgozczs she still looks to be very competitive over 200m.

Forge83

gavinoontheweb wrote: »

Same issue with Niger's Aminatou Seyni, looked so good in during the heat in Doha I was surprised she didn't qualify for the final. However, from what I saw from Mboma in Bydgozczs she still looks to be very competitive over 200m.

If she can run 48 for 400 she can run 21 for 200.
I would expect her to win at least a medal if she spends any few weeks learning how to use blocks properly.
A bit farcical really that a sprinter who can’t use blocks could win an Olympic 200m medal. It highlights the major issue around the rules for intersex athletes.

BobBobBobBob

As we say around this part of the country - what a dope!

4Ad

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/sports/olympics/shacarri-richardson-suspended-marijuana.html

1 month ban !!

Dodge

4Ad wrote: »

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/07/01/sports/olympics/shacarri-richardson-suspended-marijuana.html

1 month ban !!

Seems about right to be fair. PEDs are a different thing altogether

yerwanthere123

She's out for the 100m but could still potentially run the relay.

Forge83

Dodge wrote: »

Seems about right to be fair. PEDs are a different thing altogether

If an athlete is a nervous or anxious athlete, uses cannabis and relaxes enough to be able to compete well, is that not performance enhancing?

shotgunmcos

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

She's out for the 100m but could still potentially run the relay.

Ban is from 18 June I think so up to USTAF what to do. T&F doesn't start until 30 July so from that POV she is clear. Its more that the trials were within that 1 month so her result is stripped. Up to USTAF who they send to each event.

shotgunmcos

Forge83 wrote: »

If an athlete is a nervous or anxious athlete, uses cannabis and relaxes enough to be able to compete well, is that not performance enhancing?

They could just as easily swig a shot of whiskey. Cannabis slows reactions times. Hardly the choice for sprinters :cool:

Forge83

Any rumblings about the mixed 4x4 squad? I would imagine the squad has been picked and submitted to the Olympic council.
My guess is the following team-
M- C Greene, C O Donnell, R McDonnell. First reserve A Mellon
W- P Healy, Sophie B, R Adeleke. First reserve C Manning

Forge83

shotgunmcos wrote: »

They could just as easily swig a shot of whiskey. Cannabis slows reactions times. Hardly the choice for sprinters :cool:

It obviously worked for her, she ran 10.6 and 10.8 at the trials.
She obviously knew it didn’t affect her reaction times as if it did she wouldn’t have been stupid enough to do it. She admitted she did it as she was stressed, it relieved her stress so she could compete better. For me that’s performance enhancing.

Dodge

Forge83 wrote: »

Any rumblings about the mixed 4x4 squad? I would imagine the squad has been picked and submitted to the Olympic council.
My guess is the following team-
M- C Greene, C O Donnell, R McDonnell. First reserve A Mellon
W- P Healy, Sophie B, R Adeleke. First reserve C Manning

Squad is 2+2, not 3+3. Cathal Dennehy was heavily hinting that Adeleke hasn’t been picked

Forge83

Dodge wrote: »

Squad is 2+2, not 3+3. Cathal Dennehy was heavily hinting that Adeleke hasn’t been picked

They are only sending 4 athletes? What if someone gets injured?

Dodge

Forge83 wrote: »

They are only sending 4 athletes? What if someone gets injured?

Reserve can travel but it’s different rules for mixed compared to the other relays

NOCs may enter one (1) team for this relay event. A total of four (4) athletes, two (2) men and two (2) women, may be entered for the relay team. In addition, NOCs can nominate a maximum of two (2) P alternate athletes for each team, one (1) man and one (1) woman.

Forge83

Dodge wrote: »

Reserve can travel but it’s different rules for mixed compared to the other relays

That’s disappointing.
Hopefully they take the 2 reserve athletes so. Or they might name already qualified athletes like Barr and Shanahan or English and Power.

28064212

Forge83 wrote: »

It obviously worked for her, she ran 10.6 and 10.8 at the trials.
She obviously knew it didn’t affect her reaction times as if it did she wouldn’t have been stupid enough to do it. She admitted she did it as she was stressed, it relieved her stress so she could compete better. For me that’s performance enhancing.

What if she drank some Earl Grey to de-stress instead? Still performance-enhancing? Even WADA don't directly claim that it's a PED - to be on the banned list it only needs to satisfy two of three criteria:

• It represents an actual or potential health risk to the athlete
• It has the potential to enhance or enhances sport performance
• It violates the spirit of sport

The last one is highly subjective. There's a decent article on it here: https://sports.yahoo.com/sha-carri-richardsons-olympic-drug-ban-why-is-marijuana-a-banned-substance-141633284.html

That's not to say she shouldn't receive a ban. She's an elite athlete - if she wants to avail of the benefits and prestige of participating in elite competition, she needs to abide by the rules, same as everyone else. There's an argument to be made over whether marijuana should be on the banned list (a number of other pro sports have removed it from testing), but the way to have that argument is not to just go ahead and do it anyway

Ceepo

shotgunmcos wrote: »

Ban is from 18 June I think so up to USTAF what to do. T&F doesn't start until 30 July so from that POV she is clear. Its more that the trials were within that 1 month so her result is stripped. Up to USTAF who they send to each event.

USTAF only send top 3 in the trials, so unless they go outside their own policy, she stays at home.
As for her running the relay. When would a team need to be declared, and would it be possible to enter an athlete that was currently serving a ban if the was an over lap.
The other issues is USTAF would have to bring a banned athlete to the Olympics, can they do that, or does a ban prevent athletes training and taking part in official training facilities or social gathering, or entering the Olympic Village.

yerwanthere123

Hamachi wrote: »

Eilish McColgan surprised me. I thought her absolute limit was 14:35 - 14:40. Very happy to be proven wrong. Must give her a lot of confidence going into Tokyo. She should be pushing for top 6 in both events.

Yep, I honestly thought she might struggle to break her PB of 14:46. 14:28 is a huge leap, delighted for her.

Entry lists for Monaco next Friday are out. Some field!

Robbing a post from the thread on Let's Run which gives a good breakdown of events

- WR watch in the 400m hurdles, Warholm v Benjamin

- Deep Women's 800 ft World Champ Naakayi, Wilson, Reekie, WL Almanza; entire field w/ 1:58 PRs

- WR watch in the 1500m, Cheruiyot v Jakob w/ Sowinski n Sein pacing, ft. McSweyn, Tefera, Katir, Lewandowski, AussieChamp Edwards, Filip, KenyanChamp Simotwo, and more 3:34s

- WR watch in the 200m, Fraser-Price v Thomas v Miller-Uibo v Okagbare, all in great shape

- Okay Men's Steeple, group of 8:00 to

- CRAZY DEEP Men's 800 - Amos, Arop, Dobek, Dustin, Giles, Hoppel, Korir, Murphy, Rotich, Tuka;
1:41 guy, 4 1:42 guys, buncha 1:43 guys, and nearly all with good SBs already besides Amos

- WR watch in the Women's 1500m - Hassan v Kipyegon ft Purrier, Arafi, Chebet, Nanyondo, Mishesha, McGee, MacLean, Guerrero; ton of 3:58 to 4:02 women, and top two + Purrier in incredible shape

- Olympic preview in Men's 100m - US Team of Bromell, Baker, Kerley v Simbine, DeGrasse, Jacobs, Vicaut, Tortu - all but two solidly sub 10 already

- Olympic preview in the Women's Steeple, Chepkoech v Coburn v Kiyeng and Krause, plenty of others

Sspeaking of Let's Run, they're embarrassing themselves with their defences of Richardson, and now even launching a petition to keep her in the games :rolleyes:

Slideways

I wonder would they be so forward if it was an athlete from Jamaica or Africa?

yerwanthere123

Slideways wrote: »

I wonder would they be so forward if it was an athlete from Jamaica or Africa?

They'd want them burned at the stake!

I like Let's Run, it's a brilliant running resource, but as an American site their hopeless bias towards Americans makes it a little difficult to take seriously at times.

FitzjamesHorse

I was watching CNN last night and the story was very pro-Richardson.
Without over-stating the fact, there are some Americans who think that their law/rules trumps (no pun intended) international law/rules.

Dodge

FitzjamesHorse wrote: »

I was watching CNN last night and the story was very pro-Richardson.
Without over-stating the fact, there are some Americans who think that their law/rules trumps (no pun intended) international law/rules.

They, as a country, have been pretty embarrassing over this. I’ve seen loads argue that as it was legal she did nothing wrong. As if the likes of nandrolone aren’t legitimate drugs with legitimate uses. Christ my mam had to use it at one stage

I think the one month suspension is about right

Hamachi

I mentioned her earlier in this thread, but Femke Bol has now inserted herself firmly into the conversation for an Olympic medal and not just the bronze either. She ran 52:37 in Stockholm, this afternoon, destroying her PB and running the second fastest time in the world this year. Any slip up from McLaughlin or Muhammad and she’ll be there to pounce.

With Warholm’s WR during the week, McLaughlin’s WR in the US trials and deep fields across both the men’s and women’s events, the 400m hurdles are shaping up to be the races of the Olympics.

yerwanthere123

I knew Bol was a prospect but I didn't think she was this good. 6th fastest of all time after tonight! As Hamachi mentioned above, very much in the medal mix for Tokyo now.

Very fast women's 800m tonight also, won by Almanza in 1:56.28. 19 year old Keely Hodgkinson got a big PB too, now a 1:57.51 runner.

Beatrice Chepkoech not in any kind of form in the steeplechase, finishing 3rd in a very average (for her) 9:10. Decent race for Krause to take second in 9:09.

Timothy Cheruiyot looked a bit laboured at times, but eventually pulled away easily for a 3:32 win in the men's 1500. All going well he'll be facing off against Jakob in Monaco on Friday, I suspect there'll be a couple of changes to the Kenyan team after that.

Monaco should be insane on Friday. We're finally in Olympic month!

yerwanthere123

Sifan Hassan has entered in all three of the 1500, 5k and 10k for Tokyo. Now I imagine she's not actually planning on running all three, merely keeping all her options open. It's gonna be very interesting to see what she chooses, she had decided on the 5k/10k double, but if she gets another convincing win over Kipyegon on Friday I reckon she'll choose the 1500.

Forge83

Hamachi wrote: »

I mentioned her earlier in this thread, but Femke Bol has now inserted herself firmly into the conversation for an Olympic medal and not just the bronze either. She ran 52:37 in Stockholm, this afternoon, destroying her PB and running the second fastest time in the world this year. Any slip up from McLaughlin or Muhammad and she’ll be there to pounce.

With Warholm’s WR during the week, McLaughlin’s WR in the US trials and deep fields across both the men’s and women’s events, the 400m hurdles are shaping up to be the races of the Olympics.

Her hurdling improvement last night was massive. If anything they are too small for her. I still can’t see her challenging Maclaughlin and Muhammad unless they make big mistakes as I think both will lower the WR again.
Also Bol has a lot of races in her legs already indoor and outdoor, I worry the wheels will come off at some stage if she’s not careful.

Hamachi

yerwanthere123 wrote: »

Beatrice Chepkoech not in any kind of form in the steeplechase, finishing 3rd in a very average (for her) 9:10. Decent race for Krause to take second in 9:09!

Yeah, Chepkoech looked like a shadow of her 2019 self. Krause is a dark horse. She’s not the fastest flat runner but has great hurdling technique and seems to be able to peak at just the right time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she snuck a bronze in Tokyo.

Speaking of German distance runners, where is Konstanze Klosterhalfen? She hasn’t raced for months. I’m a fan and hope that she isn’t injured. She didn’t race the German championships, so I fear the worst..

yerwanthere123

Hamachi wrote: »

Yeah, Chepkoech looked like a shadow of her 2019 self. Krause is a dark horse. She’s not the fastest flat runner but has great hurdling technique and seems to be able to peak at just the right time. I wouldn’t be surprised if she snuck a bronze in Tokyo.

Speaking of German distance runners, where is Konstanze Klosterhalfen? She hasn’t raced for months. I’m a fan and hope that she isn’t injured. She didn’t race the German championships, so I fear the worst..

Chepkoech hasn't raced a lot this year but she did set the 5k WR on the roads back in February, so I wouldn't rule her out just yet. I think Monaco will tell us a lot, I personally wouldn't be surprised if she was saving herself for that and is intent on making a statement run there.

Don't know exactly what the story is with Klosterhalfen, but she does post quite a few stories of herself training on Instagram, so at least appears not to be injured. It is strange she's raced so little, has the German team been named for Tokyo? Given she's only raced once, and that was her 31:01 10k back in February, I assume that's what she's aiming for if healthy.

Mar Azul

Rhasidat named in Euro u20, does this mean she won't be picked for Tokyo?