Thoresen: interesting selection comments

[Londres]

I wouldn't say people are questioning whether "BJ" is world-class, he has that silver medal from the Battersea Park World Cup. However, it has been some time since he has had some form. When you have results like that (and others) in the bank then you deserve the benefit of the doubt. He got this in 2006 and went on to come a fairly decent 17th in the WOC Sprint race.

However, how long can he keep living on this result. Yes a 2nd in a World-Cup is amazing, but that was 4 years ago. Coming back to get 17th at WOC isn't bad either.

BJ wasn't the only other British male to get a silver medal in a World Cup sprint that year. Matthew Crane was also 2nd in Itlay. However he hasn't been living on one results for 4 years. He has had several selections not go his way. Ewan McCarthy has a 16th place in the WOC sprint. He is anothe runner, like Matthew, who hasn't been given the benefit of the doubt. Unlike BJ, both of these runners are not just one-trick-ponies.

BJ's performances at this years races were OK. If Matthew Crane or Ewan McCarthy had those results they certainly wouldn't be going to the Nordics. But the British Team has shown faith in him, they know if he puts it all together then he is a true contender. But you do have to wonder how long it can keep going on without any performances.

Hopefully he can get back to his best and get some more medals.

[madmike]

Londres,
agree with everything you say in your post you capture my perspective exactly.

Didsco,
I also missed the subtlety and thought you were asserting DBJ was at full fitness but didn't disagree with any of the other content - I'm sure we'd all be delighted if DBJ or any other elite wins/podiums on the world stage - it's a sport that many of us care passionately about.

This is certainly not the first (or 1000th) time I've missed a subtlety nor will it be the last. However, you may also want ot be careful though about comments that imply the "wrong sort of people" are posting in an open discussion forum - that did irritate me slightly but may be that was your intent

[harry]

OK I said I wasn't going to visit nopesport again for a few months but when I saw the results of the Finnish Sprint Champs (final) I just couldn't help myself...
Anyone feel stupid? Still questioning the value for money of his entry fee + petrol money from Helsinki to Salo?
Or maybe now you can see how the selectors might be feeling right now, if they'd not given him a chance for Salo??

H21 : 3,4 km

(Lähti: 52, Keskeytti: 0, Hylätty: 9)

1. Tero Föhr VeVe 11.49
2. Tuomas Tervo RR 11.50 +1
3. Mats Haldin IFKGötebor 11.55 +6
4. David Brickhill-Jones Lynx 12.00 +11
5. Petteri Muukkonen VeVe 12.15 +26

[Mrs H]

this thread is the only thing that's keeping me going in these dark days - so when's the big race we'll all certainly now be glued too?

[DIDSCO]

Harry >
thats the best post on nopesport for ages. You're a legend BJ! Only 11 seconds down as well!

.....will be interesting to see what 'Becks and co' have got to say now brilliant!

[Roger]

If I couldn't read Finnish I might just be wondering why there were only five competitors...

[madmike]

.....will be interesting to see what 'Becks and co' have got to say now brilliant!

read 3 posts above your own for my answer

[Becks]

That's an excellent result. But Londres encapsulated my thoughts completely, and if you think one result changes those thoughts, then I would be hanging up my white coat right now!

[graeme]

Back at madmikes list...

David Brickhill-Jones (SYO) - - - Y
Rhodri Buffett (SWOC) - - - Y
Matthew Crane (SYO) Y Y Y Y
Scott Fraser (INT) Y Y Y Y
Graham Gristwood (OD) Y Y Y Y
Oliver Johnson (SYO) Y Y Y -
Dan Marston (INT) Y Y Y -
Matthew Speake (EBOR) Y Y Y Y

Not everyone can make the squad. Dan has been running at a high level for many years, and can take care of himself. So becks implied question is not simply "why pick BJ" but by extension "why leave out Rhodri".

I've nothing against BJ (except maybe quitting INT for SYO ), and I'd expect him to do well in his specialist discipline in his present home country. It's a good tactical selection.

But then Rhodri's a young guy who pitched up to the nominated selection race (JK sprint) and won it. One can't expect so much on an international debut, but I just hope in time Rhodri will prove wrong those who (implicitly) support leaving him out.

edit: I'm talking about squad selection here, not the Nordics team. I think that's what Becks was on about too.

[schnitzer]

I know this is an old thread but gutted I missed it as have quite a few things to say...

It's interesting that both the 'how good can you be with the wrong build' and 'how good can you be once you are over 35' questions came up in the same thread. It's all very well pointing out this man got a silver when he was 40 or this chunky woman won the gold and these big boned women do really well but the bottom line is these are exceptions. Most of the time it is the small-framed virtually fat-free person who wins with mostly small-framed virtually fat-free people in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th.

Hopefully all of the really enthusiastic girls reading this will be mature and stable enough to not reduce their calorie intake (or throw up their breakfast) and will understand that quite simply if you want to win gold then in almost all cases you will have to have a similar frame to Simone and co and look like they do on the start line i.e. like professional, endurance athletes who have not only dedicated training programs but a dedicated diet too. If you have a larger frame then you will probably HAVE to have that special, RARE natural ability that Helena has if you want a gold (especially in the shorter, faster disciplines). If you have a tendancy to retain fat (as most women do in comparison to men) then ditto but then if you are training (like 10+ hours a week) and eating like a proffesional (high calorie balanced diet very low in saturated fat) athlete then something must be wrong if you turn up on the start line not looking like one.

I heard an interview with Kelly Sotherton once at the end of the main athletics season and she said that the thing she was most looking forward to was a plate of chips. She had probably spent the whole of the season not even consuming 1g a day of saturated fat. That is the dedicated diet of a professional athlete. I'm not saying that Simone, Minna or Anne have the same dedication (but they probably do), maybe they are just lucky i.e. the genetic hand they have been dealt but either way that is what you are up against.

I should point out that there is nothing wrong with not having this sort of dedication to diet and running for the GBR women's team cos f me if I had the chance I certainly would and there's no way I wouldn't still drink my cider and eat Ben & Jerry's. I guess it's just a shame that we haven't got more girls that have a chance of competing with e.g. the sorta performance that Simone put in yesterday in the sprint qualifier, whether that's because they haven't got the natural ability OR haven't got the dedication. And this brings me on quite nicely to the selections...

There are some athletes in British orienteering that (a) really have to work at being a super-fast runner and others that (b) don't have to work quite so hard. There are some athletes in British orienteering that can (i) utilise their top speed all of the time, some that can (ii) utilise their top speed most of the time and others that can (iii) utilise their top speed only some of the time. It is unfortunate that even though ai's navigate cleanly pretty much all of the time they will probably never win a gold because they don't run fast enough. So if I was a selector I would pick biii's over ai's simply because there is more chance of winning a medal if they just happen to run clean, on the day. Going by the consistency of his results when he wasn't injured (yes ok 4 years ago but natural ability doesn't just disappear - that's the really annoying thing about these type of runners, they take loadsa time off, hardly train and with a few runs under their belt are really fast, seemingly instantly) BJ is a bi or at worse a bii so yes sodding well take him to the races, put him in the squad over the ai's. This isn't like employment, where loyalty or enthusiasm count for anything it's all about the medals. Rant over.