Also at issue here is what the nature of the WC's should be. If the IAAF wants a marketable event with a concentration of stars then they should be cutting the fields. With amateurism behind us, shouldn't this be the move?
Paul -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Behalf Of John Schiefer Sent: Monday, June 23, 2003 1:44 PM To: Post, Marty; '[EMAIL PROTECTED] uoregon. edu' (E-mail) Subject: Re: t-and-f: Real small WC 1500 field? I think what we're seeing here is a disparity between the world's top 1,500m runners and many of those in the U.S. To be a player on the world scene, you have to be able to run 3:33 or better. The problem there is that even if you are a 3:33 guy, you are going to be 4-5 seconds off the pace at the World Championships. Admittedly, the standard being set at 3:34.90 might be a little too fast. However, if you can't run under 3:35 do you really have any business in the final? Schiefer --- "Post, Marty" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > The "A" qualifying standard for men's 1500m at 2003 > World Champs in 3:34.90. > The qualifying period began January 1, 2002. > > According to Athletics 2003, a total of 24 runners > met the "A" standard in > 2002. One of them - David Krummenacker - definitely > won't be running the > 1500 in Paris, and if I counted correctly 10 of the > 24 were Kenyans, so > that's another seven that won't compete in that > event. > > So far in 2003, four more runners have run sub > 3:34.90 - five if you can > count an indoor 3:34.66 - but a couple of them are > new Kenyans. > > So with 3 runners per country and the inevitable no > shows because of injury > or whatever, you might be able to run the Paris 1500 > as a straight final. Of > course some countries - can we say USA? - will enter > only one runner with a > "B" standard so there will be other rounds but > they'll be pretty thin. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? SBC Yahoo! DSL - Now only $29.95 per month! http://sbc.yahoo.com
