By Paul Snyder
July 3, 2024
In the words of Lisa “Left Eye” Lopes, everyone get ready to do your math.
While the 2024 U.S. Olympic Track and Field Team Trials have concluded, there’s a thin cloud of uncertainty still hovering over the now empty Hayward grandstand. Athletes like Parkers Valby and Wolfe, and Karissa Schweizer (10,000m Version) all signed the model Eiffel Tower, but have their tickets actually been punched to Paris? (The situation is even murkier in the field events.) We’ll officially have to wait until July 7th to know: that’s when World Athletics will publish its final athlete eligibility rankings, reflecting scratches.
But for now, we can say this. Valby’s and Schweizer’s positions in the 10,000m look relatively safe. If one or both of them fail to get in, it gets truly complicated in terms of who USATF can send in their place. (Katie Izzo better stay ready!) Plus, Valby, despite her fourth place finish, may also be gifted a spot in the 5,000m by 5000m champ Elle St. Pierre, who has indicated she will likely focus on the 1500m. Another if: should Valby decline this still-theoretical spot to focus on the 10,000m – the event she’s acknowledged she’s better suited for – Whittni Morgan, the next woman up, would go in the 5000m, thanks to her World ranking.
Wolfe’s World ranking benefited greatly from his third place showing in the 5,000m, but he’s relying on more scratches to nab a spot on the Parisian starting line. Still, it’s looking tentatively good for the Tar Heel. Chris broke it down in an extremely detailed tweet:
If nobody else drops, Graham Blanks is cleanly in, thanks to his Olympic standard indoor 5,000m performance.
Across the jumps and throws, there are a handful of athletes who placed in the top top-three – and in the case of Charity Hufnagel in the women’s high jump, outright won the event – who will not be Paris-bound. But there are also plenty in 11th-hour-World-ranking-purgatory as well.
Second place triple jumper Russell Robinson doesn’t have the standard, but it appears as though he is now situated comfortably within the quota, after his performance at the Trials.
There are fourth-placers (and beyond) whose spot is all but assured, like JuVaughn Harrison in the men’s high jump. And even wonkier, the second and third place finishers in this competition won’t be going – but there are two other Americans within the WA quota… however they both failed to make the final. Dontavious Hill went no height in the first round, and Vernon Turner finished tied for 13th. Turner is ahead of Hill in the quota and actually “placed” at the Trials because Hill no-heighted, so he’s got a shot to make the team still… we think.
The whole thing is a mess – and don’t get us started on what’s going on with Jake Wightman. And it makes for frustrating TV when the announcers can’t say with certainty who actually booked an Olympic spot at the [checks notes] Olympic Trials. So here’s a nickel’s worth of free advice (or a desperate plea?) for World Athletics: Allow for reallocation of “unlocked” spots in a similar manner to the marathon in all championship events. That would definitively clear up the ambiguity in the distance events and at least set some expectations in the field events. Is it really credible to say that Parker Wolfe can beat five runners with the standard head-to-head but hasn’t shown he belongs on the start line?
For many reasons too long to whine about here, the NCAA system doesn’t fare well in the World Athletics weighting of meet quality. So unless and until we fix that problem (or do away with auto-qualifying entirely and really change up our Trials system — the true galaxy-brain take), the obvious fix to all this ambiguity is to just expand a qualifying format World Athletics is already comfortable with in the road events to all events. If only to make everyone do a lot less math.
Paul Snyder
Meme-disparager, avid jogger, MS Paint artist, friend of Scott Olberding, Citius Mag staff writer based in Flagstaff. Supplying baseless opinions, lukewarm takes, and vaguely running-related content. Once witnessed televison's Michael Rapaport cut a line of 30 people to get a slice of pizza at John's on Bleeker at 4am. You can follow Paul on Twitter at @DanielDingus.
