While Valby's use of Vaporfly spikes made sense for the NCAA double, WA likely won't count that performance toward world ranking points, making it harder for her to qualify for the Olympics without the time standard. And the 10,000 seems like her easier path in the U.S., whereas in the 5000m, ESP, Cranny and Schweizer all have the standard and can kick a lot faster than 69 for the last 400m.
True, but she has made it clear that the NCAA meet was her priority. I'm sure the Florida crew was aware of the pros and cons going in, and they made an educated decision. Who knows if Valby can kick now? She hasn't had to in so long. Hopefully we'll find out at the Trials. And FWIW, Elle has said she's not running the 5,000m.
She's a fantastic runner, far be it from me to second-guess. I was mainly pointing out the vagaries of the Olympic qualifying system, where athletes might not know for weeks after the trials whether they've gotten in. I'd love to see her in the Paris 10k. It seems like she can run 72s "all day." And or the 5k. I wish all the athletes good luck and I hope we can send a full three runners per event.
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While Valby's use of Vaporfly spikes made sense for the NCAA double, WA likely won't count that performance toward world ranking points, making it harder for her to qualify for the Olympics without the time standard. And the 10,000 seems like her easier path in the U.S., whereas in the 5000m, ESP, Cranny and Schweizer all have the standard and can kick a lot faster than 69 for the last 400m.
True, but she has made it clear that the NCAA meet was her priority. I'm sure the Florida crew was aware of the pros and cons going in, and they made an educated decision. Who knows if Valby can kick now? She hasn't had to in so long. Hopefully we'll find out at the Trials. And FWIW, Elle has said she's not running the 5,000m.
She's a fantastic runner, far be it from me to second-guess. I was mainly pointing out the vagaries of the Olympic qualifying system, where athletes might not know for weeks after the trials whether they've gotten in. I'd love to see her in the Paris 10k. It seems like she can run 72s "all day." And or the 5k. I wish all the athletes good luck and I hope we can send a full three runners per event.
Fingers crossed on all fronts. I'm also hoping for decent distance running weather in Eugene, to increase everyone's chances.
I need to correct what I said, because I just saw Scott Cacciola's tweet. Apparently Elle changed her mind and she is indeed doubling at the Trials. https://x.com/ScottCacciola/status/1800987311632453679