http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/olympic_games/london_2012/9400098.stm
I agree with Turner! But again, if you’re one of the fastest in the world, running only 3 of 4 rounds won’t make that much difference unless you can choose what rounds you would like to run.
What do you think?
I think four rounds is too many. I don’t know why people are going on about an uneven playing field; nobody in the 100m who can’t run the B qualifier stands a chance in hell of making the final.
The B time of 10.28 (Beijing) is not fast enough to make the final in any WC or Olympics, and almost certainly not the semi-final either unless one has been injured a lot and is actually quite a lot faster.
In Berlin, the slowest time to make the semi-final was 10.24.
The slowest time that advanced to the final was 10.04.
The playing field is level, as all the guys who stand even a remote chance of making the final will already have the qualifying time.
All the guys who would only ever run one round (old or new system) will still only run one round.
The guys who would only ever run two rounds (old or new system) will still only run two rounds.
There might be one or two athletes who make the semi-final (out of 24) who do not have the B qualifying standard, and they will run only two rounds instead of three in the old system. Any athlete who barely makes the semi-final and who doesn’t have the B standard will never make the final, so the fact that they’ve run one extra round won’t matter.
All the guys who are in the semi-final and stand a chance of making the final will have all run the same number of rounds.
The finalists will all run three rounds.
I do agree that 4 rounds for the people who end up making the final is too many. I wonder how well Asafa would have run with less rounds in Beijing?! I think the mindset of the people complaining is that the new system is showing favoritism. In Turner’s own words… “It’s pretty much hanging medals around people’s necks before they’ve started.”
I guess the big question is how is the ‘bye’ system going to work (or going to be implemented). In other words, within what performance time period is a given athlete going to get a ‘bye’ during a championship year?
If the high jumpers and pole vaulters do not have to attempt every height or the long triple/jumpers don’t why would it not be acceptable for the sprinters to pass a round. I would suggest they are running for their own satisfaction.
Good point. That would work… everyone gets an equal opportunity to pass a round depending on whether they feel their fastest time in the previous round would put them through to future rounds. Interesting.
So in round 1, Asafa blazes to a 9.82 in the first round amongst guys who can’t break 10.50 :), than waits for the final. Interesting.