2024 Olympics - General commentary

DevilHorse said:
Lauren Tolbert is participating in the Women's 800 meter trails, thanks to her finals participation in the NCAAs a couple of weeks ago.
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Tolbert failed to make it out of the heats in the women's 800m on Friday, but last night featured several compelling events. All four finals on the track were were great. A mix of seasoned vets putting up season/personal bests, young upstarts trying to break through, shockingly close finishes, and heartbreak.

If you missed last night's races but have even a mild interest in previewing the athletes who will represent the US in Paris, you may wish to check out the following links:

Women's 800m final featuring Athing Mu, the runaway gold medalist in Tokyo who once seemed on track to challenge the 40+ year old world record. Mu has been seeking redemption after being upset in last year's world championships but hasn't raced much recently.

Men's 400m final featuring 16 year old HS Sophomore Quincy Wilson going up against the top 3 ranked 400m runners in the world. Wilson literally looks like a boy among men.

Women's 5000m final featuring BudWom's neighbor Elle St. Pierre going head-to-head with Elise Cranny and collegiate superstar Parker Valby.

Men's 1500m final featuring a showdown between Yared Nguse, Cole Hocker, Hobbs Kessler, Cooper Teare and fan favorite Drew Timme look-alike Craig Engels in a fast race which saw the top 6 runners meet the Olympic standard of 3:33.50.
 
Duke's Erin Marsh finished 12th at the trials in the heptathlon, so she will not be competing in Paris.

Her former teammate, Maddy Price, has been running well in the 400m this year in Canada. Canada's team is selected by a coterie of philosopher-kings, rather than the through a trials meet, and she will find out whether she has been selected soon.
 
House P said:
Tolbert failed to make it out of the heats in the women's 800m on Friday, but last night featured several compelling events. All four finals on the track were were great. A mix of seasoned vets putting up season/personal bests, young upstarts trying to break through, shockingly close finishes, and heartbreak.

If you missed last night's races but have even a mild interest in previewing the athletes who will represent the US in Paris, you may wish to check out the following links:

Women's 800m final featuring Athing Mu, the runaway gold medalist in Tokyo who once seemed on track to challenge the 40+ year old world record. Mu has been seeking redemption after being upset in last year's world championships but hasn't raced much recently.

Men's 400m final featuring 16 year old HS Sophomore Quincy Wilson going up against the top 3 ranked 400m runners in the world. Wilson literally looks like a boy among men.

Women's 5000m final featuring BudWom's neighbor Elle St. Pierre going head-to-head with Elise Cranny and collegiate superstar Parker Valby.

Men's 1500m final featuring a showdown between Yared Nguse, Cole Hocker, Hobbs Kessler, Cooper Teare and fan favorite Drew Timme look-alike Craig Engels in a fast race which saw the top 6 runners meet the Olympic standard of 3:33.50.
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Athing Mu not making the top 3, due to a fall/trip, is a shame. She was a favorite to make the team. She won a gold in the 800 meters and 4x400meters in the 2020 Olympics.

Larry
DevilHorse
 
The women's 5000 was very entertaining. Collegian Valby went out like she was shot from a cannon but the wily veterans reeled her in...turns out chasing cows is very good exercise. I vividly recall someone in Elle's neighborhood who led FBI agent on a foot race thru a barnyard deep in bovine fecal matter, local knowledge won the day and the Feds were outmatched in their Florsheims. It's not like the CBS show would have you believe, they don't always get their guy.
 
budwom said:
The women's 5000 was very entertaining. Collegian Valby went out like she was shot from a cannon but the wily veterans reeled her in...turns out chasing cows is very good exercise. I vividly recall someone in Elle's neighborhood who led FBI agent on a foot race thru a barnyard deep in bovine fecal matter, local knowledge won the day and the Feds were outmatched in their Florsheims. It's not like the CBS show would have you believe, they don't always get their guy.
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Valby needed to get the 14:52 standard to have a chance at the Olympics, and she knew the only way she would get was to set the pace herself. And it went almost perfectly - she got the standard and beat almost everyone in the field. But her effort was only good enough for fourth. Still, if St. Pierre opts for the 1500 instead of the 5000, Valby could still go, I think.
 
phaedrus said:
Valby needed to get the 14:52 standard to have a chance at the Olympics, and she knew the only way she would get was to set the pace herself. And it went almost perfectly - she got the standard and beat almost everyone in the field. But her effort was only good enough for fourth. Still, if St. Pierre opts for the 1500 instead of the 5000, Valby could still go, I think.
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I hadn't thought of that while watching (and I don't think the announcers mentioned it beyond a vague pre-race statement that "x runners have currently have the Olympic standard).

It's a pretty strong statement about the strength of US middle distance running that a strong contender for a spot on the team like Valby can be the NCAA record holder, but not have yet made the Olympic standard. That probably also explains why the 800 and 1500 races on Monday were "fast" and not "tactical".

Contrast this to the sprinters. It appears that the US had 15 women in the 100m and 13 men in the 400m who entered the meet having already met the Olympic standard.

While Mu being left off the team is probably the biggest "injustice" of the US qualification process, you could make a strong argument that the Olympic imposed cap of 3 athletes per country in a single event is equally unfair for elite US sprinters. Christian Coleman's 9.86 time in the 100m semi-final appears to be the 4th fastest time in the world this year, yet he isn't going to compete in Paris.
 
House P said:
I hadn't thought of that while watching (and I don't think the announcers mentioned it beyond a vague pre-race statement that "x runners have currently have the Olympic standard).

It's a pretty strong statement about the strength of US middle distance running that a strong contender for a spot on the team like Valby can be the NCAA record holder, but not have yet made the Olympic standard. That probably also explains why the 800 and 1500 races on Monday were "fast" and not "tactical".

Contrast this to the sprinters. It appears that the US had 15 women in the 100m and 13 men in the 400m who entered the meet having already met the Olympic standard.

While Mu being left off the team is probably the biggest "injustice" of the US qualification process, you could make a strong argument that the Olympic imposed cap of 3 athletes per country in a single event is equally unfair for elite US sprinters. Christian Coleman's 9.86 time in the 100m semi-final appears to be the 4th fastest time in the world this year, yet he isn't going to compete in Paris.
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The standards for the middle and long distance events were made markedly more challenging this year. For instance, the 2020 women's 5000m standard was 15:10, and we probably had at least a dozen women hit it. I'm not sure the rationale, but I think they wanted to rely more on the "world ranking" system - an alternate way to qualify - perhaps to incentivize more athletes to run in other big races throughout the year.
 
"While Mu being left off the team is probably the biggest "injustice" of the US qualification process, you could make a strong argument that the Olympic imposed cap of 3 athletes per country in a single event is equally unfair for elite US sprinters. Christian Coleman's 9.86 time in the 100m semi-final appears to be the 4th fastest time in the world this year, yet he isn't going to compete in Paris."-House P

Olympics allowing 3 U.S. participants for track is at least more than swimming allows (2). Yes, it may not be "fair" but the Olympics isn't only about giving the best/fastest athletes being showcased, but about broad worldwide representation. They don't want to have any (individual) competitions with finals dominated by a single country or two (as might be the case for certain events if an unlimited number of athletes per country were allowed per event).

Edit: is there a way to quote someone and then bold part of the quote you're responding to/only do part of the quote, without doing what I did above (just copy/pasting an extract)?
 
Bluedog said:
"While Mu being left off the team is probably the biggest "injustice" of the US qualification process, you could make a strong argument that the Olympic imposed cap of 3 athletes per country in a single event is equally unfair for elite US sprinters. Christian Coleman's 9.86 time in the 100m semi-final appears to be the 4th fastest time in the world this year, yet he isn't going to compete in Paris."-House P

Olympics allowing 3 U.S. participants for track is at least more than swimming allows (2). Yes, it may not be "fair" but the Olympics isn't only about giving the best/fastest athletes being showcased, but about broad worldwide representation. They don't want to have any (individual) competitions with finals dominated by a single country or two (as might be the case for certain events if an unlimited number of athletes per country were allowed per event).

Edit: is there a way to quote someone and then bold part of the quote you're responding to/only do part of the quote, without doing what I did above (just copy/pasting an extract)?
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For example, if only the top 80 marathoners qualified without regard to nationality, you'd have several dozen Ethiopians and Kenyans, a few Europeans and Asians, and no Americans. That might be fun for East African spectators, but wouldn't do much for the rest of the world.

That said, the World Athletics Championships gives a spot to the reigning world champ in addition to the three spots per country. So that at least allows the possibility of four slots to a dominant country.
 
phaedrus said:
For example, if only the top 80 marathoners qualified without regard to nationality, you'd have several dozen Ethiopians and Kenyans, a few Europeans and Asians, and no Americans. That might be fun for East African spectators, but wouldn't do much for the rest of the world.

That said, the World Athletics Championships gives a spot to the reigning world champ in addition to the three spots per country. So that at least allows the possibility of four slots to a dominant country.
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Good point. I don't think a dozen Americans should qualify for the sprints, but it is odd that the World's #1 ranked* 100m sprinter, can put up one of the 10 best times of the year in the finals of a qualifying event and get left out.

I think the way the World Championships handles this (allowing 4 entrants if one is the reigning World Champ) is a reasonable compromise.

Clearly the Olympic Selection process is not run by the College Playoff Selection Committee.


*Coleman is technically the #1 ranked 100m sprinter, but it is pretty clear that Noah Lyles is actually the best right now.
 
I'm late to this conversation -- I'm an Olympic writer AND a curler. Yes, I have the shoes -- one with grip-friendly rubber soles permanently attached, and one in which the "gripper" pops off to reveal two thick pieces of teflon so I can slide halfway down the length of the ice and have a good view when my shots miss.

I don't see anything akin to the Johnston/McCrory double from 2012 this year, but both basketball teams will have some Duke representation, and Boutier is now the sixth-ranked golfer in the world -- which is her worst ranking this year (best was third). Not bad.

I'm a bit worried about the fate of Olympic sports in the NIL era. More and more resources are going to go toward making sure the third-string tight end is happy, not the all-conference wrestler or swimmer. Some of these teams are going to see their travel costs go up thanks to those Duke-vs.-Stanford "conference" matchups. (Granted, it's funny to think I can see my son's school, USC, play on the East Coast.)

A lot of things in the Olympic sports world are in flux right now. We might see more talent concentrated in fewer schools, ending the era in which a Coastal Carolina or a D2 school might be harboring an Olympian. California already is the home base for so many Olympians and might catch more of them, so ACC championships might be difficult for Duke. (Unless California secedes from the Union. Or Texas or Florida, which would weaken the SEC.)
 
Had a vacation a few months ago and we befriended a nice couple from Manitoba. Had some fun curling discussions. I guess the guy is ultra modest, because when he took a bathroom break his wife told us he won a silver medal in curling at the World Championships a few years ago.
Now I have myself an official Canadian curling pin!
 
budwom said:
Had a vacation a few months ago and we befriended a nice couple from Manitoba. Had some fun curling discussions. I guess the guy is ultra modest, because when he took a bathroom break his wife told us he won a silver medal in curling at the World Championships a few years ago.
Now I have myself an official Canadian curling pin!
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By Manitoba standards, the fact that he eventually disclosed his accomplishments makes him a braggart.
 
I loved asking him about his gps run tractor. Sit back and pluck them soybeans. Gives him yields for all areas so he can increase the fertilizer as needed.
 
King of Defense said:
I'm late to this conversation -- I'm an Olympic writer AND a curler. Yes, I have the shoes -- one with grip-friendly rubber soles permanently attached, and one in which the "gripper" pops off to reveal two thick pieces of teflon so I can slide halfway down the length of the ice and have a good view when my shots miss.

I don't see anything akin to the Johnston/McCrory double from 2012 this year, but both basketball teams will have some Duke representation, and Boutier is now the sixth-ranked golfer in the world -- which is her worst ranking this year (best was third). Not bad.

I'm a bit worried about the fate of Olympic sports in the NIL era. More and more resources are going to go toward making sure the third-string tight end is happy, not the all-conference wrestler or swimmer. Some of these teams are going to see their travel costs go up thanks to those Duke-vs.-Stanford "conference" matchups. (Granted, it's funny to think I can see my son's school, USC, play on the East Coast.)

A lot of things in the Olympic sports world are in flux right now. We might see more talent concentrated in fewer schools, ending the era in which a Coastal Carolina or a D2 school might be harboring an Olympian. California already is the home base for so many Olympians and might catch more of them, so ACC championships might be difficult for Duke. (Unless California secedes from the Union. Or Texas or Florida, which would weaken the SEC.)
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I share your concern but would rephrase it to: "I'm a bit worried about the fate of Olympic sports in the NIL era in the United States." I guess that's inferred, but my point is that the U.S. is unique in that college institutions/the NCAA funds training and development for athletes unlike most every other country in the world where elite athletic sports training lives outside the university system. I definitely see ADs talking about this -- some suggesting that it may have to the be the U.S. Olympic Committee that provides funding to schools to continue to foster the existing development system for Olympic sports. Otherwise, the U.S. Olympic Committee would need to establish, setup and fund an entirely new system for athletes --- which would be A HUGE undertaking. We'll see how much of a priority it is and where the dollars come from....But other countries have figured it out to an extent (although the U.S. is quite good at Olympic showings, of course, that leverage the existing model).
 
budwom said:
I loved asking him about his gps run tractor. Sit back and pluck them soybeans. Gives him yields for all areas so he can increase the fertilizer as needed.
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A lot of Canadian curling broadcasts have a bunch of ads for farm equipment. It's rather relaxing to watch curling interspersed with waving fields of grain.

On another note, make it three Duke women's golfers going to the Games:

goduke.com

Belac, Boutier & Maguire to Compete in Paris Olympics - Duke University

Three Duke women's golfers – Ana Belac (Slovenia), Celine Boutier (France) and Leona Maguire (Ireland) -- have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as ...
goduke.com goduke.com
 
King of Defense said:
A lot of Canadian curling broadcasts have a bunch of ads for farm equipment. It's rather relaxing to watch curling interspersed with waving fields of grain.

On another note, make it three Duke women's golfers going to the Games:

goduke.com

Belac, Boutier & Maguire to Compete in Paris Olympics - Duke University

Three Duke women's golfers – Ana Belac (Slovenia), Celine Boutier (France) and Leona Maguire (Ireland) -- have qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games as ...
goduke.com goduke.com
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Do you write on summer Olympics as well?

On curling, the WSJ had a great article years ago about the tension between old school curlers (drink a beer, bowl a rock) and new school curlers (gym, proper diet, etc). It was both humorous and very educational.
 
OldPhiKap said:
Do you write on summer Olympics as well?

On curling, the WSJ had a great article years ago about the tension between old school curlers (drink a beer, bowl a rock) and new school curlers (gym, proper diet, etc). It was both humorous and very educational.
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Oh yeah -- I have a full inbox!

Curling is a very social sport. Even at relatively high levels, the expectation is that you'll hang out a bit with your opponent after a game. Winner buys the first round.

But if you want to be good, you need to make a bit of an effort to take care of yourself. Sweeping is hard work.

Former NFL defensive end Jared Allen has turned into a half-decent curler. Some other NFL veterans joined him at first, but he's the one who managed to play at an elite-ish level (enough to be on one of the top five or so teams in the country).
 
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