List of Qualifying Relay Competitions in 2008
IAAF AND AREA LEVEL COMPETITIONS
Results achieved in Relay events staged at any of the following Competitions are valid towards the Qualification
IAAF World Athletics Series
Area, Regional or Group Games
Regional or Group Championships in Athletics
Matches between teams from different Areas representing Members or Areas or combinations thereof
Area Championships and other intra-Area competitions organised by an Area Association
Regional or Group Championships in Athletics
Meetings of the IAAF World Athletics Tour *(see below)
Area Permit Meetings *(see below)
NATIONAL PERMIT MEETINGS
Only results achieved at the following National Permit Meetings are valid towards the Qualification
Name of competition Venue Country Date Events announced
Gibson Relays Kingston JAM 23-Feb Men: 4x100m, 4x400m - Women: 4x100m, 4x400m
Good Luck Beijing China Open Beijing CHN 22-May - 25-May Men: 4x100m, 4x400m - Women: 4x100m, 4x400m
AthletiCA Genève Geneva SUI 31-May Men: 4x100m, Women: 4x100m
National Permit Meeting Neerpert BEL 31-May Men: 4x400m
National Permit Meeting Namur BEL 14-Jun Men: 4x400m
Praga Academica 2008 Prague CZE 09-Jul Men: 4x100m
IAAF and Area Permit Meetings that have confirmed the staging of qualifying relay events (will be updated every 2 months)
Name of competition Venue Country Date Events announced Category
Canberra Track Classic Canberra AUS 27-Jan Men: 4x100m, 4x400m - Women: 4x100m, 4x400m APM-Q
New Zealand Permit Meet Waitakere NZL 19-Feb Contact Organiser APM-Q
Osaka Grand Prix Osaka JPN 10-May Men: 4x100m, 4x400m - Women: 4x100m, 4x400m WAT
Brazilian Athletics Tour Uberlandia BRA 11-May Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m APM-Q
Brazilian Athletics Tour Fortaleza BRA 14-May Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m APM-Q
Memorial Primo Nebiolo Torino ITA 06-Jun Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m, 4x400m APM-Q
Kaunas 2008 Kaunas LTU 08-Jun Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m APM-Q
54th Janusz Kusocinski Memorial Warsaw POL 15-Jun Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m APM-Q
Znamensky Memorial Zhukovsky RUS 15-Jun Men: 4x100m APM-Q
Josef Odlozil Memorial Prague CZE 16-Jun Men: 4x100m APM-Q
Meeting de Madrid 2008 Madrid ESP 05-Jul Men: 4x100m - Women: 4x100m WAT
Spitzenleichtathletik Lucerne Luzern SUI 16-Jul Men: 4x100m APM-Q
Note: a minimum of three International Teams must take part in the race for the event to qualify
The big question here in South Africa is wheter Oscar Pistorius will be included in the RSA 4 x 400m relay team if they make the final 16 for the Olympics.
Seriously: he is obviously a poor starter so first leg may not be ideal for that reason, although it provides his only chance to remain in a lane for the entire journey and thus not get into some sort of zig-zag scenario in the changeover zone as on subsequent legs.
If he runs the second (shorter) leg he must then receive the baton, albeit from a running start, but that involves pivoting to some extent which may complicate matters for him (not saying it will, because I don’t really know how he would handle that aspect). On the second leg he gets to stay in his lane for the first part of the journey but then there is often a savage crossover down the backstraight followed by an Indian file arrangement where the runners can get very close to each other.
The third leg is obviously then fraught with potential danger because he would be involved in free-for-all exchanges (twice) on the third leg.
Perhaps the anchor is the best spot for him. It is the glory leg too… is that why he’s pushing to get into the Olympics anyway? I don’t know, but I wonder.
In any case, let’s hope he doesn’t get into difficulties because I’ve noticed he tends to splay those blades a bit, especially when he gets tired. That would seem to present capacity to bring the whole field down in a jammed up exchange scenario. :eek:
What is his SB? Close to the first 6 athletes on the ranking list? Surely they will take the FASTEST athletes. If he is not part of the list, he cannot go. Sentiment does NOT play a role in athletics - it is MEDALS that count!