Well, this is basically like hoping that FIBA bans all men that are taller than 2 meters and all women that are taller than 1.8 meters... They also have an advantage over typical people. Or like hoping that FIG will ban all flexible women from gymnastics, because most women aren't that flexible.
Not really ...
You should first try to understand the case and then you should learn a bit about genetics and biochemistry (maybe Wanderer can help you with that one).
Semenya isnt a woman with a genetic advantage, she really cant be classified as a (genetically) "normal" woman.
No one thinks that she is a woman with a special talent who should be banned, but most people doubt that she can even be classified as a woman.
Edited by OlympicsFan
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
I found the comments a little difficult to digest ...... semenya has been tested and allowed to participate under the rules..................... Unlike some of the drug freaks ...she was born the way she was ................... to say that she is disgusting is to say that a seven feet basketball player idisgusting .... they have some form of physical harmones which can cause an athelete to have an advantage ............................. once the law has been decided and she has been allowed to play as per the law ...then just admire the fact that she is a great talent and let her play ...........................
Sorry, but where exactly did i say that Semenya is disgusting? I just find the thought that 3 athletes who absolutely dont look like women win the medals in womens 800 disgusting. Semenya did nothing wrong and i dont blame her for anything. I also dont understand why Semenya is allowed to compete but not someone like Rehm, although its obvious to anyone that Semenya has a bigger advantage. Semenya comes from a very poor background, most people would do the same in her situation, but IAAF has to exclude her from all womens competitions. Do you want to "hurt" the right of 3 or 4 woman or the right of all other women who have no chance against competitors like Semenya? CAS ruled that IAAF has to prove that Semenya has an advantage, i think the same would apply for Rehm, so he should have a good chance to compete in Rio, if he decides to sue IAAF. I know that IAAF has other problems (doping), but if they dont exclude Semenya now, she will win an olympic gold medal and i am sure that after that they will be forced to exclude Semenya. Semenya just has to hope that IAAF will be too busy to care for her case in the next couple of months, than i see no one who could stop her on her way to at least one olympic gold (maybe except Niyonsaba). You obviously didnt follow the case or you dont really know how to express yourself, otherwise i dont know what "Semenya has been tested and allowed to participate under the rules" is supposed to mean in this context. Dopers betray on purpose, they are cheaters, unlike Semenya, but in some sense she is "worse" than all dopers. Everyone can start to dope, in order to make up for the unfair advantage of dopers, but its impossible for other athletes to "copy" Semenya, they will never have the chance of running fast. In my opinion there are three fair options:
1) Semenya stays as she is and competes against men.
2) There has to be some new sort of "category" at the paralympic games for athletes like Semenya.
3) She takes whatever is required to lower her testosterone level, so that she has about the same level as "normal" woman.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Now hold on a minute, I still think Felix has a more than decent chance to beat Schippers
The bookmakers say Schippers has around 60-65% chance to win the gold, but honestly I don't agree with that. Mostly because the track in Beijing was so insanely fast, that crazy time there doesn't mean that much (of course it means something though) and because Felix has always shown to be at her absolute best when it matters most, basically for the past 10 years or so. It's nice that Schippers showed her best at World Champs, but the Olympics is a whole different level of pressure and where Felix has shown to not give a damn about that, Schippers first will have to prove that.
Of course I agree that if nothing weird happens, Schippers, Felix and probably Thompson should win the three medals, but I don't think Schippers is such a huge favorite as people think she is. Bookmakers have odds of 4.50 for Schippers not winning a gold medal and personally I would bet some money on that if they would let me bet more than a crappy 5 euro.
And about the 400m: I might see Semenya improve to 50.0 or something within the next few months, but getting to sub-49.5 doesn't seem like something I expect her to do (and I do expect Felix to do so).
I dont think that Felix wouldve been able to beat Schippers last year, at best they are at about the same level. Schippers is the favorite because she is younger, has more room for improvements and the 100/200 double is much easier than the 200/400 double. Dina Asher-Smith. Tori Bowie, SAFP or Candace Hill could also fight for a medal in Rio. Someone who runs 50.7 without serious opponents so early in season and wit negative splits can at least run 49.5 later in season. It might not be enough for gold, but it should be enough for a medal. I think Semenya doesnt want to get too much attention, so she will probably focus on 800 m and not run too crazy times, but i still dont see anyone beating her in Rio. Schippers has at least 50% to win the 200 m gold, i wouldnt bet anything against her, she has shown huge improvements every year. I think she has also a good chance to win the 100 m gold, the odds are probably 50% for SAFP, 30% for Schippers and 20% for the rest (Bowie, Ahoure, Okagbare and so on).
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Those times for one athlete are already crazy in itself, but to make things crazier: did you notice that she ran those three times back-to-back-to-back in only 4 hours at the S-A Championships?
Yes and there were only about 50 minutes between her 400 m and her 800 m run and she had negative splits in those races ...
Womens 800 m race will be really fun to watch, "she" will play with all those girls and then destroy them on the last lap without even trying hard.
It would be really cool if she would break the world records of Koch and Kratochvilova. I always thought that the 400 m world record would be unbreakable, but now i think that Semenya is the only one who could break it in the next couple of years.
Poor Allyson Felix, she is really in a trap ...
At 200 m she cant beat Schippers and at 400 m she might be chanceless against Semenya.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Some crazy times from Semenya early in the season:
50.7 400 m (huge new PB)
1:58 800 m
4:10 1500 m (her fastest time since 2009)
I hope that IAAF stops her before Rio, otherwise she will get the 800 m gold and probably also the 400 m gold. Womens 800 m could be the most disgusting event in Rio, we also have Niyonsaba and Wambui. In the end it might very well be possible that no real woman will win a medal.
I also think that IAAF's policy is very unfair. Markus Rehm has to prove that he has no advantage if he wants to compete in Rio, but Semenya will be allowed to compete unless someone proves that she has an advantage (not that i would like to see Rehm competing in Rio).
Edited by OlympicsFan
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Anja Scherl at the Hamburg-Marathon: 2:27,50h This is the German standrad.
Some background to her:
She set up her previous PB of 2:36.31! last year in Hamburg and works 40 hours a week as software developer!
Some perspective about the german olympic qualification:
4 girls now have the standard, the "funny" thing is that the Hahner twins (Anna and Lisa) already thought that they were safe for Rio, but now we have 2 faster girls, Fate Tola and Anja Scherl, so it would be unfair to nominate both Hahner twins. I think german federation should nominate Tola, Scherl and Lisa Hahner.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Linke, Pohle and Nils Brembach all fulfilled the German National Standards for Rio.
In addition to that Dohmann is already qualified for the 50 km race in Rio, so our team in race walking is complete before the season even started. In womens race walking no one will qualify.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
No irony, if they indeed came up with a course that was half a kilometer too short, that would be a huge mistake obviously. I mean, 50 meters...ok, but a half kilometer?
I guess indeed the timing is the most likely source of these weird times..
It happens more often than one might think. There have been many marathon/race walking competitions where the course was too short. Another explanation might be that it was just a very fast course, but thats not very likely. Last year the same competition was won by Link in a time of 1:20.37. Its interesting that two pretty famous athletes, Tysse and Campion both were rather slow today.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
The most likely thing is that something was wrong with the timing. The second most likely thing is that the course was too short. Everyone was about 2 min fast than expected. 20 km in 80 min (1:20.00) -> 500 m in 2 min, so i assume that the course was at least 500 m too short OR the timing didn't work.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Something is definitely wrong. All of the Lithuanians reached their PB and even the athlete who finished "20km" course for the first time in her life reached Olympic standard.
Or no doping tests ...
Everyone was at least 2 min faster than expected, so i would say the course was at least 500m too short (1km = 4min) or something went wrong with the timing.
Thank god Diniz didnt compete here, he wouldve destroyed the world record.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Yes, that's the one I meant (I knew because you pointed it out to me last year )
That's terrible and because of that she's the German athlete I would like the most to see having success (I know a medal isn't realistic, at least individually, but one can always hope of course for some sort of miracle).
You dont want "Der Harting" to win a medal? Why? He is such a nice guy ...
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
I am very "proud" that she came back so strong, many other athletes/people never wouldve been able to recover. Its amazing that she came back so strong, improving her 60 m indoor PB by 0.16.
Edited by OlympicsFan
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Pinto and Wester were pretty disappointing in Portland, but they are both pretty young, so its ok. It was the first time that Wester competed for Germany and Pinto didnt compete internationally last year, so she might have been a bit nervous. Heß improved his PB again to 17.14 in Portland and his 5th jump was about 17.60, but sadly it didnt count. Heß could even be a medal contender in Rio, if Tamgho wont get back to his old shape. 17.50 could be enough for a medal in Rio and Heß has the ability to do it. For Wester it will be pretty difficult to qualify for Rio, considering that Malkus, Mihambo and Moguenara all jumped at least 6.90 in one of the last two years. I would say that Wester and Mihambo will definitely qualify and the third place will probably go to Moguenara. Pinto has to lead our very young relay in Rio, i think she will be the oldest member of our relay, with just 24 years of age. We have tons of potential on the womens side (Butzek, Lückenkemper, Mayer, Kwadwo), but Rio might be too early. I think the medals will go to Jamaica, USA and GB. I am happy that we finally got some talent in track events. Last year we won 2 individual medals in track events, for the first time since 1999. Both Roleder and Krause clearly improved their PBs this winter, so they could really fight for a medal in Rio. In addition to that we could also fight for a medal in womens 800 m (Kohlmann, Hering) and mens 1500 m (Tesfaye). I am most impressed by Klosterhalfen, she was running very fast from 800 m to 10000 m this winter and set multiple records. At 800 m she improved the 36 year old german u20 indoor record by running 2:03:37. At 1500 m and 3000 m she set new european u20 indoor records. She also improved the 26 year old german 10 km road race u20 record (33:03) by running 32:24. I think if she wont get injured, she could qualify at 1500 m and/or 5000 m and/or 10000 m for Rio.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
I am surprised that both Braz and Barber didnt win a medal. I expected Barber to not repeat his performances from last year, but of course he still has a lot of time to prepare for Rio. In Rio it could be very interesting between Barber, Lavillenie, Holzdeppe and Braz. The level on the womens side has really exploded. About 10 athletes are able to jump 4.80 m or more, apparently there has been some new discovery. We have seen tons of junior/youth world records in the last couple of months.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
It's an American site...they also always think Galen Rupp will win most races and Jenny Simpson is the clear favorite in every 1500m she runs
I know, but some predictions are still pretty "brave" ...
Gold for Berian and Centrowitz?
Bronze for Kendricks? I would favor Braz ...
Two medals in mens triple jump?
Gold in womens long jump?
BUT: Only bronze in womens high jump?
Some american fans are really going crazy over Cunningham. Some of them predict her to jump world record (2.09) as a junior (until the end of 2017), although she just set a PB of 1.99 ...
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Ivana Španović from Croatia How could they pick the winners when they don't even know the country..
In general they have very interesting picks, i think they are overstimating american athletes in most disciplines. In womens long jump they didnt predict a medal for the top 2 in world ranking, which is very interesting ...
Nataliia Lupu (2nd at 2012 world indoor championships) wont be allowed to compete, she apparently took Meldonium for a couple of years as a medicine.
At the 2014 world indoor championships she tested positive for Methylhexaneamine and therefore got a 9 months ban.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
I agree, she can't qualify now, but she can get the standards, of course. Women's Discus Throw and maybe the Long Jump could be similarly exciting.
Womens 100 m, womens marathon, mens discus throw and mens javelin throw also could get exciting. I think we will see german athletes in many "new" disciplines. Womens 200 m, womens 800 m, womens 1500 m, womens 5000/10000 m, womens 400 m hurdles, mens marathon, mens triple jump and mens high jump.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
The European Throwing Cup is the first chance for the German throwers to get the national Olympic Standards. Though from our best throwers only Betty Heidler and Christin Hussong will compete.
I think 4 german athletes will reach the standard in womens javelin, so Hussong cant qualify just now. From a german perspective this will probably the most intense fight for the 3 olympic spots.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
German athletics federation has lowered almost all standards to those that the IAAF announced, except for very few events (Marathon, Race Walking). The official reason is that this is a result of the recent doping scandals ...
I think we will now see a huge german team in athletics (which i dont like), probably because we have to make up for the athletes we "lost" in volleyball/fencing.
Some young german athletes showed big improvements in the last couple of weeks, i hope some of them will qualify for Rio:
Especially Klosterhalfen, Heß, Roleder, Wester and Krause have looked really promising this year so far, i think some of them might really surprise a lot of people in Rio.
Attachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Posted (edited)
Not really ...
You should first try to understand the case and then you should learn a bit about genetics and biochemistry (maybe Wanderer can help you with that one).
Semenya isnt a woman with a genetic advantage, she really cant be classified as a (genetically) "normal" woman.
No one thinks that she is a woman with a special talent who should be banned, but most people doubt that she can even be classified as a woman.
Edited by OlympicsFanAttachment is the great fabricator of illusions; reality can be obtained only by someone who is detached.
Link to post
Share on other sites