04/26/24
April 28, 2004
Aussie swimmer Craig Stevens gives up Olympic spot to Ian Thorpe: After multiple world record holder swimmer Ian Thorpe was disqualified from the Australian 400m trials for a false start, the spot was won by Craig Stevens. Stevens, however, offered to vacate the spot in order to allow Thorpe to take his place. Thorpe has finally decided to take Stevens up on his kind offer, and will swim the 400m in Athens. Stevens has come under some criticism for the decision though, as accusations that he wilted under the pressure of public opinion and took money from a TV station to make the decision have been lodged against him.
posted by split atom to other at 11:21 PM - 9 comments
JJ, point #2 is confusing to others besides yourself...
posted by billsaysthis at 10:28 AM on April 29, 2004
My modus operandum revealed... My understanding is that the guys who finished 1st and 2nd in the qualifying race were awarded the 2 places on the Olympic team - a third person was then selected by someone (I know not who) as being the alternate (rather than just naming whoever finished in 3rd) - that third person was Thorpe. I want to know how the guy who finished 3rd in the qualifying race feels about not being named the alternate ahead of some doofus who can't even stand on his block without falling in!
posted by JJ at 10:47 AM on April 29, 2004
In the Olympics, disqualifications work like this: anyone can false start once and the race is stopped and the swimmers get out and back on the blocks. Anyone who false starts after the first "freebie," no matter who did the first one, is disqualified. This rule was put in place to stop the endless false starts that used to occur at almost every race. In the Aussie swim events, it's one false start and you're out. That's a bad rule. Most people who saw the event said Thorpe fell in the pool after losing his balance on the blocks. Although how he could lose his balance standing on the paddles he calls feet is another story... Anyway, he wasn't trying to time the start to get an advantage. For the people that don't follow swimming, Thorpe is known as "Thorpedo." He holds the world records in all the middle-distance freestyle events. I think a world record holder in an event should automatically qualify to defend that record. Regardless of how it went down, had there not been a bad rule in place, there is no doubt that Thorpe would have beaten Stevens. The right swimmer is in the event now.
posted by dusted at 10:49 AM on April 29, 2004
JJ, a quote from the article mentions why the third place swimmer, Josh Krogh, wasn't given the spot: Josh Krogh placed third in the 400 but did not make the team because he was not first or second in any event. I don't fully understand it, but apparently it was something they looked at and were able to justify away. Another article I saw somewhere said that Krogh wouldn't have taken the spot even if selected; he would have also allowed Thorpe to take his spot.
posted by split atom at 11:46 AM on April 29, 2004
Of course, how could the Aussies not let the Thorpedo race???
posted by billsaysthis at 03:20 PM on April 29, 2004
In the Olympics, disqualifications work like this: anyone can false start once and the race is stopped and the swimmers get out and back on the blocks. Anyone who false starts after the first "freebie," no matter who did the first one, is disqualified. This rule was put in place to stop the endless false starts that used to occur at almost every race. Thats just for athletics, as far as I know. Swimming has always had instant disqualification for false starts, I think. You rarely ever see false starts in swimming because of this.
posted by dng at 03:38 PM on April 29, 2004
Swimming has always had instant disqualification for false starts, I think. Unless things have changed since the Sydney Olympics, that is incorrect. There is one false start alloted to the field, and disqualifications after that. I pretty much watch only the swimming events, so I don't know how the athletics events work.
posted by dusted at 04:44 PM on April 29, 2004
OK. You're probably right. Maybe I'm just getting it mixed up with other meetings. And I agree, it is a bit of a silly rule. I'm glad Thorpe's back in it - considering he hasn't been beaten at that distance for 7 years, it would have ruined the event, really. (I don't know why the Olympics doesn't allow all champions to defend their titles. Its only one extra person per event, and if they're shit they'll just get beaten early on, anyway.)
posted by dng at 06:14 PM on April 29, 2004
Farce on two counts: 1) That you get disqualified for falling the pool in the first place, but 2) That you can qualify without qualifying. I want to know how the guy that finished third in the qualifing feels about all of this - surely, by rights, he should have been named as the first alternate in the event of someone standing down, not Thorpe. If you're going to do things like this, just pick a team and don't bother with the qualifying. [/rant]