Men's Prelims - Walker NH :(

[Vaultref]

I heard that Brad has entered a protest. Not sure on what grounds other than having to wait 2.5 hours before jumping with no warm-ups. I cant find anything about it online, but that's the word from Pat. I know nothing about the rules really so let's all hope and pray for him to make it in.

Brad knows the rule, so I doubt this will go anywhere. Might as well save his $100 (685 yuan) or whatever they charge to enter
a formal protest.

IAAF and USATF "open" rules have no warm-up provision.
Should they? Darn right they should have something. I know the counter argument will be, come in earlier and pass
the next height, use your spare time running and stretching on the grass area.
Fair? as an official, I never really liked it, but if anyone cares to submit a change now the the time as I know "they" are fielding potential changes at this time. Problem is USATF tries to mirror IAAF changes so IAAF would have to approve
such a change too. No clue as to how changes are proposed to that body.

Anyone actually there to observe it there were delays during the competition? 19 competitors in each group it a LOT.
The officials better work there butts off moving the event along. That includes getting the three jumpers (up/on-deck/on-hold) prepared, get the bar up fast, get an accurate measurement on each new height fast, get the standards set without delays, get out of the way and start the clock. You loose seconds of time on every one of these items by being slow at it. Before you know it, after a couple of heights, you look at your watch and ask, what the heck is taking so long. Too late at the point.

So, from anyone that was there, did it seem to be dragging on the earlier heights?

[rainbowgirl28]

I heard that Brad has entered a protest. Not sure on what grounds other than having to wait 2.5 hours before jumping with no warm-ups. I cant find anything about it online, but that's the word from Pat. I know nothing about the rules really so let's all hope and pray for him to make it in.

Brad knows the rule, so I doubt this will go anywhere. Might as well save his $100 (685 yuan) or whatever they charge to enter
a formal protest.

IAAF and USATF "open" rules have no warm-up provision.
Should they? Darn right they should have something. I know the counter argument will be, come in earlier and pass
the next height, use your spare time running and stretching on the grass area.
Fair? as an official, I never really liked it, but if anyone cares to submit a change now the the time as I know "they" are fielding potential changes at this time. Problem is USATF tries to mirror IAAF changes so IAAF would have to approve
such a change too. No clue as to how changes are proposed to that body.

Anyone actually there to observe it there were delays during the competition? 19 competitors in each group it a LOT.
The officials better work there butts off moving the event along. That includes getting the three jumpers (up/on-deck/on-hold) prepared, get the bar up fast, get an accurate measurement on each new height fast, get the standards set without delays, get out of the way and start the clock. You loose seconds of time on every one of these items by being slow at it. Before you know it, after a couple of heights, you look at your watch and ask, what the heck is taking so long. Too late at the point.

So, from anyone that was there, did it seem to be dragging on the earlier heights?

The rotisserie pole rack broke between Brad's first and second jumps, getting Clavier's (I think) poles stuck and a big delay. They did not allow the vaulters to jump out of order during this time.

That's the only thing I can think of that he would be appealing, unless he thought the standards were set wrong or something

[decanuck]

The rotisserie pole rack broke between Brad's first and second jumps, getting Clavier's (I think) poles stuck and a big delay.

Hmm...a rotisserie pole rack that breaks during its third use. Just like a regular made-in-China rotisserie!


Also,

Be picky. You are correct. I had 608 in my head because I'd received a phone call from that area code and didn't know where it was from (Madison, WI if you're curious). I'm old and get confused easily. Get off my lawn!

Best. Post. Ever.

Ever!

[roger/over]

Surprises and Disappointments

(Sorry if this post appears twice. I sent it before, but must have messed up the procedure because it didn’t register.)

Earlier, Kirk posted a list of the vaulters qualifying for the finals, in order of their seasonal bests. That was interesting, partly by identifying some of the vaulters who might not have been expected to make the finals. I’d call those the “surprises” in the qualifying round. At the same time, there were vaulters who might have been expected to make the finals, given their seasonal bests, and didn’t. In the lists below, I’ve called those “disappointments.” In order, these would appear to be the five biggest surprises and the five greatest disappointments, with their seasonal bests:

Biggest surprises in qualifying:

1 Gibilisco 5.55
2 Andreyev 5.65
2 Clavier 5.65
4 Kudlicka 5.70
4 Czerwinski 5.70

Greatest disappointments in not qualifying:

1 Walker 6.04
2 Mazuryk 5.82
3 Lanaro 5.80
4 Lobinger 5.75
5 Jeng 5.72

[Lax PV]

PS not to be picky but--608 is 19' 11.25", 610 is 20'

Be picky. You are correct. I had 608 in my head because I'd received a phone call from that area code and didn't know where it was from (Madison, WI if you're curious). I'm old and get confused easily. Get off my lawn!

Ironically enough, my cell phone is a 608 number haha

[achtungpv]

Honestly, they should ban the fancy automatic standards. It takes at least a minute to lower them, place the bar, and raise them back up. A well seasoned crew of middling intelligence can do it in half that time.

[rainbowgirl28]

Pit A was delayed over 30 minutes after Brad's first jump (a miss) by
malfunctioning supports -- those damn electronic things which use a
computer to raise the bar. One side of the supports kept getting
stuck. Jeff Hartwig was in the same pit. They both failed to move
on, but it was Brad's opening height, so he had no mark. I told our
staff to be alert and use any opportunity to protest, but several
vaulters in Pit A came out of the delay and cleared the height, so
there was nothing to be done...

[jenjen8765]

GREETINGS FROM BEIJING

We were there last night to watch the vault - (Track and Field News Tours are pricey but great!) and watched the train wreck that was the vault.

There were at least 9 major stops to the vault: event introductions, medal ceremonies, and then the standards debacle. These were complete stops of 3-5 minutes (cone on the runway), about 15 minutes for the first bar malfunction at 5.65. In general it took quite a bit of time to get any jumper set up. They may have appreciated the extra time, but it was wildly inconsistent.

I admire anyone that could make a bar: there was no opportunity to set up a rhythm. It was hard to tell when to be ready to jump. The jumpers arrived in the stadium at 7:20 and started to vault at 8:40. There was about a 10 minute break before the start for intros and such. Just as a competition would start to move between jumpers, there'd be a delay for an event introduction or for a medal ceremony or for some random (to us) reason. In general it was run very slowly - at the start of the meet guys were waiting and ready to go at the end of the runway on deck, but they stopped doing that when it became clear how slowly and irregularly it was being run. As a matter of general practice they didn't move up one pit until the other was ready, and even the other pit had to stop for a while until they figured out there was not quick fix for the broken standards. Pretty much every time that Brad took the end of the runway the standards became stuck and he'd have to wait until they got the bar up. In my opinion Brad probably didn't run quite enough before his jumps, but then, how did anyone know when to loosen up? Energy management (both physical and mental) must have been a real challenge.

We left the stadium at just a few minutes after midnight when they were still haggling over whether to jump at 5.75 or to set the finalists then. (And then experienced an insane taxi ride where the driver also got lost...but that's another story.)

They should have scheduled this as a morning prelim as they did for the women, so that there are no finals and no medal ceremonies to disrupt things.

I think that it could be argued that there was a significant difference in the performances between pit A and B, based on the "facilities". I'm also pretty sure that no appeals will be granted.

This was a real heartbreak to watch. They are all great athletes, and the people in the final will put on quite a show, but the dismal management of the competition and standards malfunction means that it was definitely not a competition that systematically selected for the best vaulters: just the guys who got lucky and managed the competition (not the vaulting) slightly better than others.

[rainbowgirl28]

http://www.stltoday.com/stltoday/sports ... enDocument

Hartwig exits with his head held high
By Vahe Gregorian
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
08/21/2008

BEIJING — As he plummeted toward the mat on what had just become the last pole vault of his Olympic career, Jeff Hartwig clenched up his body in exasperation.

He lay face down for an instant, then stood and waved, partly to his esteemed rivals. Partly to his family. Partly to appreciative fans at the Bird's Nest National Stadium, and partly to the sport he has cherished since he was a teen in St. Charles.

At 40, the Francis Howell graduate plans to retire next month after a street meet in Germany. But frustrated as he was after failing to clear 18 feet 6 inches, which proved the standard Wednesday to advance to Friday's final, he also paused to remind himself of the moment.

A career that has included being the American indoor- and outdoor-record holder also had been bookended by two Olympic berths, in 1996 in Atlanta as a rising star and now at the Beijing Games in the twilight of his career.

After quirks of fate led to his failure to clear a bar at the 2000 and 2004 Olympic trials, Hartwig suspected a return to the Olympics simply wasn't meant to be for him.

But as he mulled retirement, he continued to excel in the sport and had his passport renewed at this year's trials in Oregon.

Virtually ever since, Hartwig has tried to soak up as much as possible from the Games — as is well-documented in his blog on stltoday.com.

The end didn't match the journey for Hartwig or friend and teammate Brad Walker, the reigning world champion who in June broke Hartwig's American record of the last eight years.

Walker opened at 18-6 but failed to clear it in three tries. Hartwig had cleared 18-2, only to fall short afterward.

In frustration, Walker threw his pole angrily even as he was falling on his third jump.

"My performance had nothing to do with my preparation for the meet but the way the meet was run," he said. "If you watch the event, you will see that they made us wait there for an hour. Why does the competition start at 8:40 p.m., and we are still jumping at midnight?"

Several other competitors, including ones who advanced to the finals, also complained about the circumstances. Murmurs of a brewing protest didn't materialize within a few hours of the end of the event.

Hartwig declined to comment when asked what had happened, saying if he didn't have anything nice to say he shouldn't say anything. In all, this wasn't the way he would have chosen to go out.

But as he walked down a corridor to find his family, he finally smiled and said, "I guess I should be thinking about how great this has been."

He was talking about his time since qualifying for Beijing, and all he's done there. But the words also applied to more than 25 years in the sport that left him a two-time Olympian, which reaped thrills and adventures that no amount of money could buy.

[SlickVT]

Surprises and Disappointments

(Sorry if this post appears twice. I sent it before, but must have messed up the procedure because it didn’t register.)

Earlier, Kirk posted a list of the vaulters qualifying for the finals, in order of their seasonal bests. That was interesting, partly by identifying some of the vaulters who might not have been expected to make the finals. I’d call those the “surprises” in the qualifying round. At the same time, there were vaulters who might have been expected to make the finals, given their seasonal bests, and didn’t. In the lists below, I’ve called those “disappointments.” In order, these would appear to be the five biggest surprises and the five greatest disappointments, with their seasonal bests:

Biggest surprises in qualifying:

1 Gibilisco 5.55
2 Andreyev 5.65
2 Clavier 5.65
4 Kudlicka 5.70
4 Czerwinski 5.70

Greatest disappointments in not qualifying:

1 Walker 6.04
2 Mazuryk 5.82
3 Lanaro 5.80
4 Lobinger 5.75
5 Jeng 5.72

I still think it is the most ridiculous thing that this guy still gets to compete and take someones spot, even after being busted for doping TWICE.

[MoCoVault]

Is there any way to give http://www.nbcolympics.com feedback and tell them not to keep changing the order of the vaulters on their live feed. I understand they put them in order of their current place, but it's a lot more informative to pole vault people if they stay in their jumping order. I didn't see a feedback link anywhere.

[rainbowgirl28]

I still think it is the most ridiculous thing that this guy still gets to compete and take someones spot, even after being busted for doping TWICE.

I wouldn't say it was fair to call him busted for doping twice. It was back and forth on the same thing, and he never failed a drug test, he was guilty by association. But he has been ruled not guilty so...