Steeple barrier at wrong height; Bush out with broken foot

[kbxyz]

This is really crappy for her, and totally not acceptable that this could happen at a US championship meet.

http://www.registerguard.com/csp/cms/sites/web/sports/trackandfield/16233961-41/story.csp

[wineturtle]

The Gill groundmounted 730144A waterjump barrier has 3 settings 76.2cm, 84cm and 91.4cm(30,33,36in) credibile accounts seem split on it being set at 84 and at 91.8 but a consensus puts it too high no matter the number.

[JohnDeere]

Title IX.

[wolff]

Shoulda let the guys from Oregon/Nike run the meet.

[NSHSDad]

I've seen similar issues at other meets. I've run masters for a number of years - some of the all-comers meets have been run by volunteers like well-oiled machines, but when we get to the USATF run events, things go wrong.

The indoor masters nationals this year had tons of screw-ups.

As a USATF member, I should really figure out what I can do for the organization to help get its act together. Members do bear some collective responsibility for the way the championship meets are run and should speak up, if not volunteer.

[Track Dude]

“Tremendous,” Logan said of Bush’s performance. “An amazing feat of bravery.”

He’s right. But it’s also a story of bumbling by meet officials, who somehow set the barrier too high, then didn’t catch the error.

USA Track & Field supplies its own people to do these things, and they’re experts. But they got it wrong, then missed it on the checklist.

And there’s no excuse.

“Deplorable,” Logan called the mistake. Also, “disturbing.”

Which is why Logan made it a point Saturday to find Bush and apologize “if in any way the barrier caused the break in her foot.”

Logan promised Bush help in rehab and recovery, and also assured her she would be atop the list for post-collegiate athlete development programs.

“It was important to look her in the eye,” he said. “I owned the mistake. We’ll try not to make it again.

“I’m not done looking at this thing.”

Logan’s response to Bush is the right one, and his transparency is refreshing.

- - - George Schroeder, Oregon Register Guard

[runner1001]

that's redic. i'm surprised the athletes weren't more upset about it in their interviews. and they left it at the raised height for the 2nd heat too... what if someone gets injured there too. i'd be furious if i was nicole bush... 6-12 weeks could easily turn into recurring injuries for the rest of her career.

[hoegher]

they left it at the raised height for the 2nd heat too... what if someone gets injured there too.

They had to. Keep everyone at the same disadvantage.

[Track Dude]

Absolutely brutal.
Bush goes down about 2:44 into the race.

Here's the race video.

http://www.flotrack.org/videos/coverage/view_video/235247/189860

Too bad the officials were so clueless.

There doesn't even look like any officials were anywhere CLOSE to the water jump to even notice that something was so terribly wrong during the race; otherwise someone could have jumped in there and made an adjustment on the fly. The "drop-off" into the water is so freaking noticeable . . . too freaking noticeable, even to the casual observer. :rolleyes:

[KevinM]

They had to. Keep everyone at the same disadvantage.

Did they tell them, or had they just not realized? The idea that they "had to" is absurd". Fairness in competition should take a solid backseat to injury prevention of athletes.

[runner1001]

So, they had to risk injuring more girls the second heat in order to keep it fair.

[dont-be-weak]

I don't care if you have to leave it for the second heat but at the very least somebody should tell them so they don't hurt themselves the first time coming around. Absurd that something like this was able to happen at the national champs.

[maverick]

Did they tell them, or had they just not realized? The idea that they "had to" is absurd". Fairness in competition should take a solid backseat to injury prevention of athletes.

barringer apparently told them after heat 1, but they left it at heat 2 for competitive fairness.

[BCXC_runner]

I understand that this happened under the USATF's watch but back in late April at the Oregon Relays the steeple heights were left at the men's height for the women's races. I can't remember if it was just the water barrier or all of them. Either way, similar situation has occurred there before

[Track Dude]

barringer apparently told them after heat 1, but they left it at heat 2 for competitive fairness.

I'm With KevinM on this one.
Potential injury pre-empts fairness of competition every time in my book. The fact that they FORCED the second heat to run like this is outrageous!

[maverick]

I'm With KevinM on this one.
Potential injury pre-empts fairness of competition every time in my book. The fact that they FORCED the second heat to run like this is outrageous!

o im not disagreeing with you, i was just explaining what happened.

[herr]

It was a real tragedy. Bush looked great up to the point of the water barrier. Very smooth and strong. The limping after the water jump was painful to watch. I bet she would have made the team.

Its weird that Flotrack had no interview with her after the race. Maybe she just didn't want to deal with the press..

[Smitty]

I'm With KevinM on this one.
Potential injury pre-empts fairness of competition every time in my book. The fact that they FORCED the second heat to run like this is outrageous!

So then what, you just tell all the athletes in the first heat sorry when everyone runs 30 seconds slower in the next heat?

[trackgirl]

The limping after the water jump was painful to watch.
I wonder why the Flotrack commentators didn't notice it. They said she looked good!

[runnerman17]

I'm With KevinM on this one.
Potential injury pre-empts fairness of competition every time in my book. The fact that they FORCED the second heat to run like this is outrageous!

I think that if the women KNOW before the race and get plenty of warning it isn't that big of a deal. Sure it is a big change in height but if they know they can change things in their approach to the entire race to compensate.

[hoegher]

So then what, you just tell all the athletes in the first heat sorry when everyone runs 30 seconds faster in the next heat?

Fixed. And QFE. As long as you let them know, I think the risk of injury would be small. And you just can't have such a disparity in racing advantage at USATF Champs.

[FleaOnSpeed]

It was a real tragedy. Bush looked great up to the point of the water barrier. Very smooth and strong. The limping after the water jump was painful to watch. I bet she would have made the team.

Its weird that Flotrack had no interview with her after the race. Maybe she just didn't want to deal with the press..

they did interview her after the race, she didnt mention anything about the barrier or her foot being hurt.

but jeeze its about time they raised height for the women's barriers, they are way too low. jk, well sorta, the barriers are really too low, but its not funny that bush hurt herself

[trackgirl]

but jeeze its about time they raised height for the women's barriers, they are way too low.
But then we'd have to talk about raising the 100m and 400m hurdles, which are also absurdly low. I don't think it's politically feasible.

[FleaOnSpeed]

But then we'd have to talk about raising the 100m and 400m hurdles, which are also absurdly low. I don't think it's politically feasible.

why not? its ridiculous that for the men the 100h are so much higher than the 400h, while the woman have the same height for both.

[Ray_Ray]

why not? its ridiculous that for the men the 100h are so much higher than the 400h, while the woman have the same height for both.

Where in the world do men run the 100h?

[FleaOnSpeed]

Where in the world do men run the 100h?

oh blow me, you know what i meant

[trackgirl]

why not? its ridiculous that for the men the 100h are so much higher than the 400h, while the woman have the same height for both.
Not so. The 100h is 33" tall, 400h 30" tall.

The more interesting comparison is inseam vs hurdle.

Going with US population numbers, the average man is 5'10" and woman 5'6", giving them inseams of 33.75" and 30.75" respectively. The shorter hurdles are 42"/33", the longer 36"/30". Relative to inseam, men's hurdles are +8.25/+2.25, women's +2.25/-0.75. Women's hurdles are so much less demanding of good technique I'm surprised so few athletes double like Gail Devers did.

[herr]

I wonder why the Flotrack commentators didn't notice it. They said she looked good!

She was smooth and stride for stride going into the water jump and then gave up 40 yards to Barringer in the next 100 yards. It was hard to not notice that she had hurt her foot and was favoring it.

[roller coaster]

We’ll try not to make it again.[/B]
“I’m not done looking at this thing.”

Logan’s response to Bush is the right one, and his transparency is refreshing.

- - - George Schroeder, Oregon Register Guard

We'll try not to make it again??? That's ridiculous. You say "This WILL NEVER happen again."

[Carlo Von Sexron]

I wonder why the Flotrack commentators didn't notice it. They said she looked good!

In case you haven't noticed, those clowns don't know **** about track and field. Too caught up in self-promotion and flirting with athletes.

[Ray_Ray]

In case you haven't noticed, those clowns don't know **** about track and field. Too caught up in self-promotion and flirting with athletes.

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[Carlo Von Sexron]

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