Runnerville

Damned if they do. Damned if they don’t.  What with the current state of affairs in the sport, and the standing USOC mandate that USATF re-organize it’s bloated bureaucracy, anything controversial here at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, Oregon is sure to bring out the boo-birds for USATF. 

So when four women tumbled down 220 meters into the first semifinal of the 800 Saturday afternoon, the question became how would USATF handle it.  Initially, the packed Hayward Field audience was told during the men’s shot put final that 2004 Olympian Nicole Teter had been reinstated to the final as one of the victims of the fall. Then, after the evening’s competition had ended, and all the coaches protests had been lodged, referees Terry Crawford and Glenn Latimer, having evaluated the video evidence, decided that all four of the women who had gone down would be put through to Monday night’s final. Not everyone saw that solution as best.

“It’s unheard of,” said 1984 Olympic 800 meter champion Joaquim Cruz, coach of Alice Schmidt, who won that first semifinal.  “Maybe for a 1500 meters, but not in the 800, because of the way the race is run in lanes.  The possibility of falling is always there, because it’s a contact type race when everyone cuts to the inside after the first 100 meters.  My biggest nightmare as an athlete was falling and not doing what you were capable of, especially for athletes who like to run in the pack. I’ve never heard of anything like this in a championship race. This just opens a big can of worms for the future too.”

But the decision, according to Latimer, was based solely on the video evidence, and the desire to be fair to all the runners.  The referees’ decision was then approved by USATF Women’s High Performance chairperson Stephanie Hightower.

“There were only three choices,” said Latimer.  “Either leave them all out, put them all through to the final, or re-run the heat, which would be totally unfair.  It wasn’t a very difficult choice.  We are only trying to give the kids a chance to make the team.”

Alice Schmidt had followed coach Cruz’s advice and gone hard from the gun. She split the 200 in 28.6, rich by any standards. 

“There was some minor pushing at the 200,” explained Latimer.  “But no foul.  They heard the split, realized it was quick, and slowed.  That’s what caused the accident.”

Western Michigan’s Becky Horn was behind Schmidt in second place.  As the field bunched at 220 meters Horn’s foot hit Kameisha Bennett’s as it was swinging through, which caused Horn’s foot to trip over her own calf, and that triggered the fall.  Geena Gall, the 2008 NCAA champion out of Michigan and Teter also went down.

“No one was to blame,” said Latimer.  “There was nothing deliberate about it. So you have to give them a chance.”

The next question is how to start 12 women in eight lanes without re-creating the conditions that would leave to another potential accident. The seeding for tonight’s final will use a seven and five waterfall configuration.

“They’ve created a stagger to ensure that the people who won their semis were in the best possible position to advance,” explained Stephanie Hightower.  “We were mindful of that, and when we looked at the tape there was no reason to penalize anyone.  The best solution was not to give anyone a competitive advantage, but that the semifinal winners were given the best possible opportunity to advance to positions one, two, and three.”

USATF has chosen to take the feel-good position that’s hard to argue with from the individual athlete’s vantage point.  But with half-again as many athletes on the track as normal in a championship final, the nature and tactics of that final will be altered.  The question is how and to whose advantage or disadvantage?  With only Hazel Clark, Alice Schmidt, Katie Waits, and Nicole Teter having the 2:00.00 Olympic “A” standard it should be quick in any case.

“You are glad for the athletes who have been reinstated,” said Joaquim Cruz.  “But it’s not good for the field of athletes, because it’s too crowded, and another accident might happen in the final.”

And wouldn’t that be a damned shame?

Event 8  Women 800 Meter Run

=======================================================================

           Name                        Year Team                  Semis     Finals

=======================================================================

Section 1  Finals

  1    616 Laura Hermanson                  N. Dakota St.       2:05.78

  2    178 Kameisha Bennett                 Nike                2:19.98

  3    642 Becky Horn                       Western Mich.       2:15.72

  4   1267 Nicole Teter                     Oregon TC Elite     2:10.76

  5    494 Geena Gall                       Michigan            2:03.03

  6   1295 Morgan Uceny                     Reebok              2:02.10

  7    531 Nikeya Green                     Reebok              2:03.90

  8   1152 Alice Schmidt                    adidas              2:03.27

  9   1310 Maggie Vessey                    unattached          2:03.81

 10    312 Hazel Clark                      Nike                2:02.14

 11   1315 Katie Waits                      Reebok              2:02.38

 12   1270 Latavia Thomas                                    L S U                           2:17.53

END

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