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ok, what do you think about how the USA selects its olympic team. we are making predictions on another thread and as some of you might have noticed it can be kind of a crap shoot in the vault sometimes as to who will advance. what does everyone think about us taking the top three from one meet to the olympics. other countries select their teams in different ways. ive always thought it might be better if they took the top two plus one wildcard selected by either a committee or by a performance list.
what are everyone elses thoughts on this subject????

I think that a three-week trial should decide:
Three weeks. The winner each week gets a spot. If someone that has already earned a spot wins, then the runner-up gets in. That would allow for second and third chances if someone has a bad meet. Also, with the variable of weather, those who vault well in rain and wind have a chance, cause not every meet is going to be perfect, and vice versa.
It would also attract alot of fans and television coverage, boosting the sport.
The alternate is the highest mark of a non-qualifier in those three meets after the three have been decided.

That's a really interesting proposal... I have often thought that ours was not the necessarily best way to do it, but did not have any better suggestions....I do like this three week idea though.

I kinda like the idea of top 2 plus a committee picks the third. That would have let someone like Jeff Hartwig in the last Olympics.

The problem is that is soooooo political. Often there would not be a clear cut person for the spot... say Toby and Jeff go 1-2 for the Trials. Who would you pick for third? Based on our Oly Trials thread, there are a lot of different people who it could be...

It would be very hard to pick the third person, in that situation. The trials are set up the way they are for a specific reason, that is.......The person who can get the job done when it counts gets the glory. It has obviously been working since the US dominates the Olympics in track and field.

I like the way gymnastics does it. The athletes compete in several (4 I think) meets over a couple of months in late spring and early summer. They get points in each meet for how they finish and those who show consistency and finish well are on the team. They take their top three meets....that leaves one meet they can either miss or have an injury, etc. After they are picked, then they train together until the olympics, including the alternate. The alternate also gets to go to the olympics.

my vote is for brian to pick.

vaultguru6 wrote:my vote is for brian to pick.

sweet, now i just need to go 45cm higher and i can pick myself