Speed Skating at the Winter Olympic Games Beijing 2022

[Quaker2001 251]

49 minutes ago, NearPup said:

Not surprised. A very similar thing happened in Canada after the 2014 Olympic trials. Denny Morrison fell in the 1000m, but Guilmore Junio gave up his spot in the event (he was also qualified in the 500m) so Morrison could compete. Morrison ended up winning a silver medal.

I believe the next quota spot would go to the United States.  So if any country declines their allocation, the Bowe can skate in the 500 and the US would have 3 skaters

[Grassmarket 3,408]

1 hour ago, Quaker2001 said:

So this just happened..

 

 

I guess the rationale is that overall & long-term team sponsorship depends on maximising the number of medals won, so it makes sense to get your best chances selected in every discipline. We see this sometimes in Britain in sports like rowing where some individuals will sacrifice their place in the eight, for example, in the hope that in four years time they get another chance. 

[Olympian1010 7,976]

24 minutes ago, Grassmarket said:

I guess the rationale is that overall & long-term team sponsorship depends on maximising the number of medals won, so it makes sense to get your best chances selected in every discipline. We see this sometimes in Britain in sports like rowing where some individuals will sacrifice their place in the eight, for example, in the hope that in four years time they get another chance. 

Bowe has also implied that the 500m isn’t really her focus at the moment. She’s more focused on the 1000m/1500m. 

[NearPup 3,051]

Kind of wild that the three Americans who have a real chance at winning an individual gold medal in Beijing (Jackson, Bowe and Mantia) all come from Ocala, Florida, population 60k.

[Quaker2001 251]

2 hours ago, Olympian1010 said:

Bowe has also implied that the 500m isn’t really her focus at the moment. She’s more focused on the 1000m/1500m. 

Which makes sense.  There's enough time between events, but probably easier to focus on 2 rather than training for 3

[NearPup 3,051]

US Speed Skating Olympic Team

 

Men:

• Ethan Cepuran
• Casey Dawson
• Austin Kleba
• Emery Lehman
• Joey Mantia
• Jordan Stolz
• Ian Quinn

 

Women:

• Giorgia Birkeland
• Brittany Bowe
• Kimi Goetz
• Erin Jackson
• Mia Manganello-Kilburg

 

Breakdown by home state (for fun):

4 skaters: Florida

3 skaters: Illinois

1 skater: Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, Utah, Wisconsin

[heywoodu 15,141]

8 hours ago, Grassmarket said:

I guess the rationale is that overall & long-term team sponsorship depends on maximising the number of medals won, so it makes sense to get your best chances selected in every discipline. We see this sometimes in Britain in sports like rowing where some individuals will sacrifice their place in the eight, for example, in the hope that in four years time they get another chance. 

To be fair, Bowe isn't going to get any more established than she already is in the sport (and I mean that in a good way, not in a "she's not good enough" way!), so it's not like she has that much to gain when looking at 2026. It basically just makes sense in every single way other than if Bowe specifically wanted to do as many races as possible, which wouldn't make sense if the downside is you might lose some 1500m endurance by focusing on sprints.

[dcro 10,210]

8 hours ago, NearPup said:

Kind of wild that the three Americans who have a real chance at winning an individual gold medal in Beijing (Jackson, Bowe and Mantia) all come from Ocala, Florida, population 60k.

Moreover since Ocala is rapidly becoming the equestrian hotspot of the USA. Apparently it is the only place with some hills on Florida hence why eventing spread there. 

[Dennis 712]

 Nil Llop is definitely not going to Beijing: https://www.rfedh.es/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/Comunicado-oficial-de-la-RFEDH-en-relación-a-los-criterios-de-clasificación-para-la-competición-de-patinaje-de-velocidad-de-los-JJOO-2022.pdf

 

The Spanish Ice Sports Federation had filed an official complaint with regards to the interpretation of the rules (which we here also interpreted differently). I made a rough translation of the document to English. My Spanish isn't perfect, but I think it gets the message across:

 

Quote

 

By means of this press release, the Royal Spanish Ice Sports Federation wishes to inform the media of the steps taken and their chronology to resolve the situation generated around the non-inclusion of Nil Llop in the list of reserves for the speed skating competition of the next Olympic Games 2022:

• The RFEDH received last 22 December the 'communiqué 2449' from the International Skating Union (ISU), the body in charge of designating the speed skating spots for the Beijing 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
• In the aforementioned communiqué, an interpretation of the Olympic qualification procedure defined by the ISU before the start of the 2021-22 season is provided, which means that Nil Llop will go from appearing as first reserve in the 500m and second reserve in the 1000m after completing the four qualifying races for the Games (12 December), to not being included in the list. 
• After analyzing the communiqué and compiling all the necessary information, the RFEDH sent a formal complaint to the ISU on 23 December as it did not understand what in our opinion was a change in the interpretation of the rules, and put the case in the hands of its lawyers to find out what options existed for Nil Llop's situation.
• After a few days without response, the president of the RFEDH, Mr. Frank Gonzalez, demanded a response from the ISU on 28 December, contacting at the same time the president of the ISU, Mr. Jan Dijkema, to convey our concerns as a result of the communiqué 2449.
• On 31st December, the ISU replied to the RFEDH's complaint, but omitted from its response the part that questioned the interpretation of the rules of its latest communiqué 2449. In view of what was considered an incomplete and unsatisfactory response, the RFEDH asked again on 31 December for a specific response to the rule that RFEDH considered was not being applied correctly and in accordance with the published rules.
• On 5th January, the ISU confirmed to the RFEDH that it maintained the criteria applied on 22 December, providing the explanations they considered relevant to how the ISU should "interpret" the rule.
• In view of this response, the RFEDH closed the complaint to the ISU, expressing our dissatisfaction with what we consider to be an excessively flexible interpretation of the rules. The RFEDH has communicated this decision not to continue the procedure, stating that we continue to believe that our interpretation of the rule is the most coherent, given that it follows step by step the Olympic qualification protocol. However, given that the interpretation of the rule rests with the ISU, who must apply it, the RFEDH accepts their decision and is at their disposal to work on revising the documentation for the next Games.
• The RFEDH wants to take this opportunity to send all its support to Nil Llop and his coach Sandra Gómez, as well as to the athlete's work environment after this difficult situation. At 19 years of age, he has shown that he is worthy of being in a Games and the federation is fully committed to his continued development in the coming years.
• Both the RFEDH and Nil Llop will not make any further statements on this issue.

 

[Quaker2001 251]

10 hours ago, heywoodu said:

To be fair, Bowe isn't going to get any more established than she already is in the sport (and I mean that in a good way, not in a "she's not good enough" way!), so it's not like she has that much to gain when looking at 2026. It basically just makes sense in every single way other than if Bowe specifically wanted to do as many races as possible, which wouldn't make sense if the downside is you might lose some 1500m endurance by focusing on sprints.

Yea, this had nothing to do with sponsorships or her overall profile.  She did this to help out a friend and to help the US speedskating team.  They probably have a better chance at winning more medals with Jackson in the 500 and Bowe in only 2 races than if Bowe tried to compete in all 3.