{"id":399757,"date":"2024-06-04T02:11:59","date_gmt":"2024-06-04T02:11:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399757"},"modified":"2024-06-04T03:05:37","modified_gmt":"2024-06-04T03:05:37","slug":"star-caught-in-marathon-mess-rejects-calls-to-copy-america","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/?p=399757","title":{"rendered":"Star caught in marathon mess rejects calls to copy America"},"content":{"rendered":"

Olympic<\/a> runner Genevieve Gregson<\/a> says she doesn't agree with calls for Athletics Australia to adopt a US-style marathon trials, citing a lack of depth and financial concerns.<\/p>\n

After a month-long period described by Gregson as "stressful" and "ugly", the 34-year-old was on Monday confirmed as one of three Australian female marathon runners selected for the Paris Olympics<\/a>, along with Sinead Diver and Jessica Stenson.<\/p>\n

The non-selection of Lisa Weightman, one of six Australian women who had met the entry standard\ufeff within the qualification period, had sparked an appeals fight<\/a>, claims of bias and calls for Athletics Australia (AA) to make its selection criteria more objective.<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> Matildas take gamble with Paris squad selection\ufeff<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> De Minaur stuns Medvedev in 20-year French first<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n

READ MORE:<\/strong> 'You can't do that': Bizarre call almost derailed Demon<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

Gregson admitted she would have also appealed if she'd been snubbed.\ufeff<\/p>\n

\ufeffLee Troop, an Australian marathon runner at the Sydney 2000, Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 Olympics, told Wide World of Sports that AA should introduce a US-style marathon trials<\/a>.<\/p>\n

By the USA Track and Field (USATF) system, the first three to cross the finish line in both the men's and women's races are selected for the Olympics<\/a>, provided they satisfy World Athletics' qualification rules.<\/p>\n

"I understand why people are saying the criteria is not black and white enough for a selection to be made and people are struggling with the discretion of it," Gregson told Wide World of Sports after being named on her fourth Olympic team.<\/p>\n

\"From<\/p>\n

\ufeff"I think a trial is a little hard to ask in Australia mainly because we don't have the depth of the countries that are doing trials, like the USA.<\/p>\n

"Yes, in Australia we have six amazing athletes [in the women's marathon ranks], but not long after that it'll drop off.<\/p>\n

"In 20 years do I think we're heading there? Yes, 100 per cent."<\/p>\n

Japan had 27 men and 24 women hit the respective entry standards within the Paris 2024 qualification period. Such depth means that if a top runner suffers an injury in the lead-up or wakes up on trials day with the flu, the team for the Olympics is hardly affected, if at all, because there are so many others at a similar level.<\/p>\n

Only two US men ran Paris 2024 qualifiers, but 18 women hit the mark\ufeff.<\/p>\n

Two Australian men qualified by time for the Paris Olympics \u2014 Brett Robinson and Patrick Tiernan \u2014 and six women: Gregson, Diver, Stenson, Weightman, Izzi Batt-Doyle and Eloise Wellings.<\/p>\n

The fact that six Australian women nailed the entry standard is being widely applauded. It should be, too. Those six and Sarah Klein make for the most impressive generation of Australian female marathon runners in history.<\/p>\n

But in the context of\ufeff an Olympic marathon trials debate, many knowledgeable athletics types, including Gregson, believe the depth is not yet enough.<\/p>\n

\"Genevieve<\/p>\n

Troop acknowledged the financial concerns associated with a potential Australian marathon trials\ufeff, but he also noted it would only be an issue every four years.<\/p>\n

This year's US Olympic trials, held in Orlando in February, were backed by a prize purse of US$600,000\ufeff (about A$900,000), with the winners of the men's and women's races collecting US$80,000 each (about $120,000).<\/p>\n

The prize purses for each trials are supplied by the local organising committees, which reach deep into their pockets in bidding wars and, if they earn hosting rights, hope to make considerable profits through tourism.<\/p>\n

Australia simply does not have the same interest in athletics.<\/p>\n

If Gregson, Diver and Stenson were to line up for an Olympic trials held in conjunction with the Melbourne Marathon, they would almost certainly be missing out on handsome financial opportunities tied to international races, such as the New York City, Tokyo and London Marathons.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffWe're not quite ready to be in a position to give up a whole marathon race towards a trial," said Gregson, who's run the Gold Coast<\/a> and Valencia Marathons<\/a> since switching from the steeplechase.<\/p>\n

"That's what we do, that's our living. We probably only have two, maybe three good ones in us a year, and if we have to dedicate one of those to a trial, that's sponsor money we're losing, that's prizemoney we're losing, that's appearance money we're losing … So to make everyone line up and sacrifice a year to go towards a trial, it's actually hurting our athletes, not supporting them."<\/p>\n

\"Lisa<\/p>\n

While Gregson isn't in favour of a US-style marathon trials, she's receptive to the Japanese system.<\/p>\n

By the Japanese federation's set-up, the first two over the line are locked in for the Olympics and the third qualifies provisionally, provided they meet World Athletics' qualification rules.<\/p>\n

Gregson was one of six Australian women who smashed the 2:26:50 entry standard within the Paris 2024 qualification period.<\/p>\n

The dispute spilled onto social media when Weightman's husband took aim at Stenson's selection and demanded she take down a photo of he, Weightman, their young boy, Stenson and others from years earlier.<\/p>\n

At an Australian Olympic Committee selection confirmation at Lakeside Stadium on Monday, Gregson, Diver and Stenson were finally\ufeff able to breathe easily, knowing their Olympic selection was final.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

"\ufeffProbably the best way to describe it [the past month] would be stressful. As it all played out, it's definitely something that none of us, including Athletics Australia, had been through, that type of process. So no one knew how it was going or what way it would head. I found it stressful because no one ever pulls you to the side and says, 'Don't worry, your spot's safe'," Gregson said.<\/p>\n

"We all had to have our wits about us and be involved in every step of the way. Obviously Jess and Lisa had a way harder end of the deal when I'm talking about stress, but it definitely did affect me in a way that wasn't great.<\/p>\n

"I know it did get ugly when stuff spilled out onto Twitter (X), which shouldn't have ever happened … It takes away the whole excitement of actually being nominated and then waiting for that announcement.<\/p>\n

"The announcement kept getting pushed because things weren't cleared up. I just remember thinking there was never a time that was safe to celebrate … When you get named on an Olympic team the first thing you want to do is celebrate, but in this sense we had to respect that there was an appeal going on.<\/p>\n

"\ufeffIf you take me back a month ago and said to me, 'OK, if you get left off will you appeal?', yeah, I would have, and I stand by that … You have a right to appeal if you believe you have a case to be on the team."<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Olympic runner Genevieve Gregson says she doesn't agree with calls for Athletics Australia to adopt a US-style marathon trials, citing a lack of depth and […]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399757"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=399757"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399757\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":399762,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/399757\/revisions\/399762"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/399759"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=399757"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=399757"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sportinfo.pro\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=399757"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}