“I’m always on a self-discovery to better myself and that’s how I view getting beat. If somebody beats me, it’s like, ‘Alright — here’s another opportunity to better myself.’” – Noah Lyles, after finishing second in the semis.
Repechage keeps repeating on me. Just when I think I might have it figured out, I get pulled back in.
Feel like a cat monitoring a sunbeam.
Not alone. Asked one legend for his input: “I don’t wish to be credited because I don’t really know what I’m talking about.” So, think Senior Government Official.
I had not heard of this, but I think it is a great idea.
It will give fans more great competitions to watch. It will extend hope for a few competitors. And I can’t see that it changes anything for the eventual medal winners, and even the eventual finalists. If they perform well enough in their rounds, they will get through.
I like it for another reason. If an athlete, for whatever reason, shows up at a championship under-raced, and can’t qualify in his first try, the “failed” race may be just what the athlete needs to set himself right. By having that extra competitive opportunity, the athlete gets an opportunity to “race himself into shape,” so the best athletes really do reach the final.
In reality, I think that very few athletes will ever reach the final through the repechage process. The net result will be good though, giving marginal athletes more Olympic experience, and the fans more races to watch.
Makes sense to me.
Then I watch the heats of the Men’s 110 Hurdles. USA rumored to be thinking of a podium sweep. And now this.
SAINT DENIS, France — Team USA’s Freddie Crittenden jogged through a preliminary men’s 110-meter hurdles round Sunday to finish with a time of 18.27 at the Paris Olympics, nearly five full seconds behind heat winner Louis Francois Mendy of Senegal.
Why?
Strategy. And misfortune.
Crittenden came up with a minor physical issue Saturday – so minor, in fact, he wouldn’t even describe it as an injury – but it was enough to give him concern that it might cause an injury. So in order to save his body and give himself the best chance of recovery, he willfully finished last with a plan of taking the next two days to rest, then hopefully rebound to medal contention in Tuesday’s repechage round.
“I had a little aggravation in my abductor yesterday for my pre-meet. I went to Team USA medical staff, medical doctors, and they said it’s not an injury, but there’s a lack of activation in my muscle that’s causing pain and discomfort,” Crittenden said. “So the plan was to come here, get through the round, and as long as I didn’t get disqualified or hit any hurdles, the idea was that I could get through and get another opportunity in the repechage round. So I just wanted to get here, make sure I didn’t make anything worse, and give it everything I’ve got on Tuesday.”
“My first thought was, am I going to be ready? Am I going to discredit all that athletes that wanted this spot and didn’t have it?,” he said. “Then after that it was, “What can I do to explore all my options?'”
It was obvious from the start that Crittenden’s intention was something other than to win the heat. With a short, choppy stride, it looked more like a warm-up form than anything resembling race-level effort. But this wasn’t just a race. It was the opening round of competition in the event at the Paris Games, and a raucous morning crowd was left more curious about the last-place finisher than it was about how the front-runners clocked.
“In a couple days I think it’ll be better and I’ll be able to leave it all on the track on Tuesday. It was definitely a strange feeling, especially walking out of that tunnel and seeing the beauty of the Paris Olympic Games,” he said. “This is my first Olympic team. I definitely was a little close to just going for it, but with that came the risk of really injuring myself and putting myself at risk to not even make it to the repechage round. So I really had to make the best choice.”
Crittenden’s strategy put him in a position to have to run on three consecutive days to race for a medal. Following Tuesday’s repechage round, semifinals are scheduled for Wednesday followed by medal competition Thursday.
Also seems like, if you were in a loaded heat, you could just jog out the race and compete against the also-rans tomorrow.
Ollie Hoare, Repechage and Social Media
Australian middle-distance runner Oliver Hoare revealed he suffered abuse on social media following his disappointing performance in the men’s 1500m heats.
The 27-year-old, who won gold at the 2022 Birmingham Commonwealth Games, got his Olympics campaign off to a horrible start Friday, finishing third from last in the opening heat in 3:39.11.
Hoare was given a second chance during Saturday’s repechage round, needing to finish in the top three to qualify for the semi-finals. However, Hoare only managed fifth, crossing the line four seconds after the third finisher with a time of 3:34.00.
Honestly, he looked bad flat in both races.
After recovering from a sports hernia that forced him to miss last year’s world championships, Hoare was in career-best form heading into the Paris Olympics having won the men’s mile event at last month’s London Diamond League.
Speaking to reporters following his Olympic exit, Hoare confessed he had been targeted by online trolls after his heats run, affecting his preparation for the repechage round.
“That (heat) was a terrible race, and I’ve been abused on Instagram, so I did delete it,” Hoare said, as reported by News Corp.
“I probably should have deleted Instagram before I went into the village, but I miss my friends. It’s an easy way of communication when you’re not living at home.
“So that was tough. I think that kind of affected me a little bit, I haven’t slept great.”
Aside from the hateful direct messages, Hoare also revealed comments were left on pictures of his girlfriend.
“If I have a bad race or if something goes wrong, there could be a possibility of that happening, and I have to just tell it to piss off,” Hoare continued.
“They don’t know that I couldn’t walk in November, they don’t know what a lot of athletes go through and sometimes it’s their day, sometimes it isn’t.”
Look at the finish. Five-thousandth of a second separate a hard-charging Lyles from the “apparent” winner Kishane Thompson. Lifetime best of 9.79 and Noah Lyles is the 2024 Olympic champ.
It was so close, when the sprinters crossed the line and the word “Photo” popped up next to the names of N. Lyles, K. Thompson and five others in the eight-man field, Lyles walked over to the Jamaican and said “I think you got the Olympics, dog.”
Thompson wasn’t convinced.
“I was, ‘Wow, I’m not even sure, because it was that close,’” the Jamaican said.
They waited. We waited. When Lyles’ name came up in first place, he yanked his name tag off the front of his bib and waved it at the crowd. Then he shouted at the TV camera: “America, I told you I got this!”
Inarguably among the greatest finals in Olympic history. First time EVER eight men have broken ten seconds in a wind-legal race. Five of the eight finishers ran their fastest time of 2024. National records for both Akani Simbine of South Africa and Letsile Tebogo of Botswana. Seven of the eight men ran under 9.90.
Truly something to behold.
Source: Fox News for Ollie Hoare