Only the individual coaches and athletes know how they have planned their strategy. Ben has had a break through season and will learn I am sure from this. He has been at his best for quite a while and its not surprising to see him drop off after such a long season. This is not an uncommon occurrence to see athletes struggle to double peak in a breakout season. I am sure his coach and he have already begun to plan and learn from this season. Joel has been off the boil for a while and again no doubt his caoch and he are scratching their heads trying to find a solution and young Kevin well he is a junior on the rise and this will be a great opportunity for him to learn and grow from.
There issue is will always be athletes who can and can’t perform O/S.The great ones have the fortunate ability to not have to fully taper domestically but hey thats reality. You can and will never be able to satisfy everyone. Quite often those just on the cusp of being very good have a small winge when maybe they just can’t take that next step to be world class. They look for reasons to possibly appease there mind with where they would like to be and where they actually are.
This isn’t an Australian isolated issue. There are many countries who are asked to double peak with quite large times in between. In addition there are other sports in Australia also asked to do this…and they do so with not teh same fuss. The current system will never suit everyone just as a different system such as having trials closer to the major world event suit all.
AA has rewarded the best athletes by giving them an automatic pass to the CWG if they finished top 8 at last years world. This seems pretty fair. We are talking about elite level athletics here not rewards for all. I think the system couldn’t offer anymore chances then the current one which gives athletes many opportunities to qualify. Rest assured alternative selection ploicies would also bring up issues. Maybe if anything the one change that could occur is a clearer grasp of the discretionary 3rd spots might help alleviate some angst. But then there would always be some who won’t be satisfied.