* I am many days late and many dollars short for this post. The Olympic Track & Field Trials were held June 21-July 1, 2012. You can read and see for yourself the full results here. The United States is sending nearly 600 total athletes to this year's Olympic Games which will be held in London, England for a record setting third time. London is the only city, save Athens many, many years ago, to have that honor. The Opening Ceremonies are scheduled for tomorrow, while track & field events don't begin till August 3rd. The marathon is scheduled for the 5th for women and the 12th for men.
Has the question ever come to you as you were watching an event that is taking place during the Olympic games, "How does one become a Olympian?" Well, if it has, today is your lucky day because I am going to do my very best to answer your question in a very brief "Yahoo Answers" kind of way. This is something that I've always wanted to know. For as long as I have been cogniscent of the Olympic Games, I have wanted to be an Olympian. I know this will never be, but I can always dream. So, how does one become an Olympian? Do they (the United States Olympic Committee) just follow your career and then ask you to represent the USA at the Olympics? Do you have to qualify? Do you just tell them you want to be an Olympian when you are an athlete of a certain caliber? The resounding answer to all of these questions and those of similar matter are a BIG no. Here IS the way one does become an Olympian for the most part minus a few exceptions like baseball, basketball, and soccer, and this is a great time of year to watch some achieve this lifelong dream and goal, while watching others watch that dream disappear in the mere time span of milliseconds or a space of a few millimeters into the finish line tape.
All athletes for any sport that takes place during the Olympics must meet a certain standard in order to even be invited to the "trials" event for their sport. In the case of track and field, there are two standards: the A & B standard. The "A" standard is the one most athletes shoot for and as can be surmised in track & field, the standards have to do with either running a certain time or performing a certain distance task to qualify for the "trials". The track and field trials were held in Eugene, Oregon this year and they have been held there in years past as well, which has given the town of Eugene the title of "Track Town USA". Eugene is also the home to the University of Oregon, which has produced some of the finest runners in America; the most famous being Steve Prefontaine. The way the track & field trials works is very simple, if you have earned the "A" standard, you do not race, throw, jump, hurdle, etc until the "final" of your event. However, if you have earned the "B" standard coming into the trials, then you must race, throw, jump, hurdle, etc in a preliminary contest in hopes of earning the "A" standard. If you finish in the top 3 of the preliminary contest, then you move on to a semi-final contest in hopes of either earning the "A" standard or finishing in the top 3 hoping to move onto the final contest. And finishing in the top 3 of the final contest will give you a place on Team USA and the right to call yourself an Olympian.
I was only able to watch a little of the US Track & Field trials, but the events that I did have the chance to watch were incredible from start to finish. I begged my gracious family if we could watch the 10000 meter final races and they really got into it, but were surprised that the runners had to run 25 laps around the track. My dad and I watched the 110 male hurdles and the 100m semi-final races. And later, I watched the final of the decathlon. I wish I would have gotten to see all the events, but that is the way it goes. I have included some photos from the Trials and hope you enjoy. And now you know how one becomes an Olympian and is the case of Julia Lucas who missed the chance of becoming an Olympian by 4/100's of a second, "it only took 15 years of tireless effort" to make it to the trials. So, when you're watching the Olympics this year, stop for a moment and know they make it look so easy because they have doing their event for as long as most of us have had our driver's licenses.
All athletes for any sport that takes place during the Olympics must meet a certain standard in order to even be invited to the "trials" event for their sport. In the case of track and field, there are two standards: the A & B standard. The "A" standard is the one most athletes shoot for and as can be surmised in track & field, the standards have to do with either running a certain time or performing a certain distance task to qualify for the "trials". The track and field trials were held in Eugene, Oregon this year and they have been held there in years past as well, which has given the town of Eugene the title of "Track Town USA". Eugene is also the home to the University of Oregon, which has produced some of the finest runners in America; the most famous being Steve Prefontaine. The way the track & field trials works is very simple, if you have earned the "A" standard, you do not race, throw, jump, hurdle, etc until the "final" of your event. However, if you have earned the "B" standard coming into the trials, then you must race, throw, jump, hurdle, etc in a preliminary contest in hopes of earning the "A" standard. If you finish in the top 3 of the preliminary contest, then you move on to a semi-final contest in hopes of either earning the "A" standard or finishing in the top 3 hoping to move onto the final contest. And finishing in the top 3 of the final contest will give you a place on Team USA and the right to call yourself an Olympian.
I was only able to watch a little of the US Track & Field trials, but the events that I did have the chance to watch were incredible from start to finish. I begged my gracious family if we could watch the 10000 meter final races and they really got into it, but were surprised that the runners had to run 25 laps around the track. My dad and I watched the 110 male hurdles and the 100m semi-final races. And later, I watched the final of the decathlon. I wish I would have gotten to see all the events, but that is the way it goes. I have included some photos from the Trials and hope you enjoy. And now you know how one becomes an Olympian and is the case of Julia Lucas who missed the chance of becoming an Olympian by 4/100's of a second, "it only took 15 years of tireless effort" to make it to the trials. So, when you're watching the Olympics this year, stop for a moment and know they make it look so easy because they have doing their event for as long as most of us have had our driver's licenses.
The logo.
The redemption of Dathan Ritzenhein. He missed becoming an Olympian in the marathon by one place or 15 seconds and came in 3rd place in the 10000m final to earn a spot to London.
Amy Hastings gutting through the last meters of the very tough women's field during the 10000 meter race. Winning was also her redemption since she came in fourth during the Olympic Marathon Trials.
During the Trials, Ashton Eaton put on a clinic for how one should perform the decathlon and in doing so became the owner of a world record.
The women's 3000m steeplechase race. Ryan Hall's wife Sara, in black on the right, missed her ticket to London by 30 seconds.
Oliver making the 110 hurdles look easy.
The long jump.
The pole vault.
Hoffa showing what a man can do with a 10 lb. shot put. Wow.
The male 5000 meter race.
This was my favorite picture from the Trials because it was so ironic. Each year during XC & Track, I hand out uniforms that I keep in a Rubbermaid bin and lay the sizes out on desks or tables and have my runners come in and get their correct sizes and sign a complete uniform out. In my mind, I had something more grand pictured when I thought about Nike and the Olympic team, but as it turns out, they do it much the same way.
My 2012 track team. We didn't make it to the Trials, but we did take a little trip down to Albany for the State Meet. I should say they did. I was a little tied up! Ford was born on the first day of the state track & field meet.
Happy reading, running, and watching the London Olympics,
David
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