Conspiring Around a Conspiracy: From the Olympic Team Selection Criteria to the Team Selection Committee Meeting
I'm going to share with you now the way I planned my 2005-06 competition season, in consideration of the Olympic Team selection criteria. I'm also going to talk about how U.S. Speedskating shot themselves in the foot with the decisions that went down at the final team selection meetings.
Not long after the Olympic Team selection criteria became available, I made a post about how they were so long, detailed, and involved that they were "scarier than an organic chemistry exam." But upon reviewing them on my way to the Fall World Cup Qualifier, I found that they boiled down to this idea:
"The Olympic team will be nominated by a selection committee, taking into account both the results at the Olympic Trials and results at the Fall World Cups."
I realized from reading the selection criteria that U.S. Speedskating was trying to make it sound like the Trials were the most important. But I also knew that Fall World Cups could be used as leverage against someone they didn't want on the team. I knew that I would have to both beat their favorites at the Fall World Cups and at the Olympic Trials in order to stand a chance against the selection committee.
My plan was to reduce my training load only slightly in the fall, and hope it would be good enough to compete decently at the Fall World Cups, and then throw in a major taper before the Trials. By the end of the World Cups, I was ahead of Sannes in points in the 1000 meters, which was good; even though I was disappointed in my skating, overall. Ochowicz was still ahead of me, but her performance was falling off towards the end of the trip, and I felt if I came out ahead of her at the trials, then this could be argued in my favor.
My pre-Olympic Trials taper did not give me as great results as I'd hoped, and though I didn't qualify for the team, I was in the first alternate position for the 500 meters, and also was the next in line to get added to the Team Pursuit.
Now, this is very important, because it is where I decided to end my career. I had prepared my official retirement notice, but the actual decision to retire came when I handed that notice in to Andy Gabel after my last 1000-meter race at the Trials, when I knew exactly where I stood.
I realized at that point that I still had a chance to be added to the Olympic Team. After all, there were additional spots available for the Team Pursuit, and there was also the chance that someone might give up their spot in the 500 (like what happened in 2002.) But I didn't want that! First of all, I posted before about not wanting to participate in the Team Pursuit. Secondly, I didn't want to make the team on anyone's "charity." Third, I DIDN'T WANT TO SUBJECT MYSELF TO CORRUPT POLITCAL DECISIONS, such as what ended up happening in the choice not to take extra women for the Team Pursuit. I will go into that.
The only way I wanted to make the Olympic Team was the way that didn't happen for me, and that is to have an awesome race at the Trials, blow everybody away, fair and square, and put myself beyond the reach of the people who want to screw me over. That didn't happen, and I was willing to accept THIS KIND OF DEFEAT -- the true defeat of pushing your body to its limit, knowing you tried your best, and falling short of your goal. I wanted to skate 1:15.5 at the Trials. I thought about it all year long, and it didn't happen for me. Tough.
After the Long Track Olympic Team selection committee met and decided to add 2 men to the Team Pursuit, making the men's team a full 10 skaters, and decided NOT to add 2 additional women, leaving the women's team at 8 skaters when they could have taken 10, I heard that some of the people on the Yahoo Skatelist were puzzled about this decision. So, I posted my interpretation, saying that the next women in line were "politically unacceptable choices." But I also said that I thought they should have added Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. Now, in consideration that the U.S. neglected to enter its quota of 4 skaters in the women's 1500, entering only three, I see that this decision not to add at least one additional skater has hurt them.
One thing that I didn't want to talk about before, but that I WILL bring up now because it turned out to be a real issue, is the "necessity" of entering Amy Sannes in the Team Pursuit. Ever since the first meeting where USS set up Pursuit practice back in September, I believed from the way they were setting up the teams that what Crowe was hoping to get out of all of this was "an easy medal for his favorite girl." And I wanted no part of that!!!
Sure enough, his strategy was to put Sannes into one of the early-round races, hope she muddled through, and that the "good skaters" would be able to handle the later rounds well enough to medal, and that after all the investment that Crowe and USS had made in Sannes, she'd finally get to hang some hardware around her neck.
What I want to know is, TO WHOM IS THE OLYMPIC TEAM SELECTION COMMITTEE ACCOUNTABLE? This seems like such a totalitarian system! Who makes sure it is fair? Also, why is it that this committee of 5 people includes three who have a conflict of interest: Tom Cushman, Ryan Shimabukuro, and Mike Crowe all have their own skaters and agendas to promote. The selection committee should be comprised of impartial voters, rather than being made up of a majority with a vested interest in U.S. Speedskating National Team skaters.
By the way, at this point I'd like to thank Ryan for holding the lap board and the turn cable for me, and also to say that I know he was fighting against me in the pairings at the Olympic Trials, by arguing that the top 4 women (Jen, Chris, Elli, and Amy) should be in their own, separate grouping for the draw. The coach who fought for me (and Erin Porter) in that situation was Andrei Zhuikov, the man who rightfully takes the credit for bringing Maria Lamb up to the level of international competition.
Ryan, I know you were only doing your job, and that you'd be in fear of losing your job if you stood up for me in such a situation. What I hope is that eventually U.S. Speedskating will change to the point where you won't have to think twice about doing what's right, and won't have to do things behind a skater's back in order to keep your job. Once again, I don't blame you, I only blame the system. But this is the system, and the whole world must know about it.
So, here's what ended up happening at the Olympic Games: The women's pursuit was an organizational disaster, even though they could have medaled with the people they sent, if the USS staff had planned properly.
And, USS ended up without enough women to enter the 1500 meters, which I hope turns out to be a major humiliation for U.S. Speedskating. Certainly, by now, this horribly corrupt and incompetent sports federation has reached critical mass for a major shake-up.
I'm going to share with you now the way I planned my 2005-06 competition season, in consideration of the Olympic Team selection criteria. I'm also going to talk about how U.S. Speedskating shot themselves in the foot with the decisions that went down at the final team selection meetings.
Not long after the Olympic Team selection criteria became available, I made a post about how they were so long, detailed, and involved that they were "scarier than an organic chemistry exam." But upon reviewing them on my way to the Fall World Cup Qualifier, I found that they boiled down to this idea:
"The Olympic team will be nominated by a selection committee, taking into account both the results at the Olympic Trials and results at the Fall World Cups."
I realized from reading the selection criteria that U.S. Speedskating was trying to make it sound like the Trials were the most important. But I also knew that Fall World Cups could be used as leverage against someone they didn't want on the team. I knew that I would have to both beat their favorites at the Fall World Cups and at the Olympic Trials in order to stand a chance against the selection committee.
My plan was to reduce my training load only slightly in the fall, and hope it would be good enough to compete decently at the Fall World Cups, and then throw in a major taper before the Trials. By the end of the World Cups, I was ahead of Sannes in points in the 1000 meters, which was good; even though I was disappointed in my skating, overall. Ochowicz was still ahead of me, but her performance was falling off towards the end of the trip, and I felt if I came out ahead of her at the trials, then this could be argued in my favor.
My pre-Olympic Trials taper did not give me as great results as I'd hoped, and though I didn't qualify for the team, I was in the first alternate position for the 500 meters, and also was the next in line to get added to the Team Pursuit.
Now, this is very important, because it is where I decided to end my career. I had prepared my official retirement notice, but the actual decision to retire came when I handed that notice in to Andy Gabel after my last 1000-meter race at the Trials, when I knew exactly where I stood.
I realized at that point that I still had a chance to be added to the Olympic Team. After all, there were additional spots available for the Team Pursuit, and there was also the chance that someone might give up their spot in the 500 (like what happened in 2002.) But I didn't want that! First of all, I posted before about not wanting to participate in the Team Pursuit. Secondly, I didn't want to make the team on anyone's "charity." Third, I DIDN'T WANT TO SUBJECT MYSELF TO CORRUPT POLITCAL DECISIONS, such as what ended up happening in the choice not to take extra women for the Team Pursuit. I will go into that.
The only way I wanted to make the Olympic Team was the way that didn't happen for me, and that is to have an awesome race at the Trials, blow everybody away, fair and square, and put myself beyond the reach of the people who want to screw me over. That didn't happen, and I was willing to accept THIS KIND OF DEFEAT -- the true defeat of pushing your body to its limit, knowing you tried your best, and falling short of your goal. I wanted to skate 1:15.5 at the Trials. I thought about it all year long, and it didn't happen for me. Tough.
After the Long Track Olympic Team selection committee met and decided to add 2 men to the Team Pursuit, making the men's team a full 10 skaters, and decided NOT to add 2 additional women, leaving the women's team at 8 skaters when they could have taken 10, I heard that some of the people on the Yahoo Skatelist were puzzled about this decision. So, I posted my interpretation, saying that the next women in line were "politically unacceptable choices." But I also said that I thought they should have added Nancy Swider-Peltz Jr. Now, in consideration that the U.S. neglected to enter its quota of 4 skaters in the women's 1500, entering only three, I see that this decision not to add at least one additional skater has hurt them.
One thing that I didn't want to talk about before, but that I WILL bring up now because it turned out to be a real issue, is the "necessity" of entering Amy Sannes in the Team Pursuit. Ever since the first meeting where USS set up Pursuit practice back in September, I believed from the way they were setting up the teams that what Crowe was hoping to get out of all of this was "an easy medal for his favorite girl." And I wanted no part of that!!!
Sure enough, his strategy was to put Sannes into one of the early-round races, hope she muddled through, and that the "good skaters" would be able to handle the later rounds well enough to medal, and that after all the investment that Crowe and USS had made in Sannes, she'd finally get to hang some hardware around her neck.
What I want to know is, TO WHOM IS THE OLYMPIC TEAM SELECTION COMMITTEE ACCOUNTABLE? This seems like such a totalitarian system! Who makes sure it is fair? Also, why is it that this committee of 5 people includes three who have a conflict of interest: Tom Cushman, Ryan Shimabukuro, and Mike Crowe all have their own skaters and agendas to promote. The selection committee should be comprised of impartial voters, rather than being made up of a majority with a vested interest in U.S. Speedskating National Team skaters.
By the way, at this point I'd like to thank Ryan for holding the lap board and the turn cable for me, and also to say that I know he was fighting against me in the pairings at the Olympic Trials, by arguing that the top 4 women (Jen, Chris, Elli, and Amy) should be in their own, separate grouping for the draw. The coach who fought for me (and Erin Porter) in that situation was Andrei Zhuikov, the man who rightfully takes the credit for bringing Maria Lamb up to the level of international competition.
Ryan, I know you were only doing your job, and that you'd be in fear of losing your job if you stood up for me in such a situation. What I hope is that eventually U.S. Speedskating will change to the point where you won't have to think twice about doing what's right, and won't have to do things behind a skater's back in order to keep your job. Once again, I don't blame you, I only blame the system. But this is the system, and the whole world must know about it.
So, here's what ended up happening at the Olympic Games: The women's pursuit was an organizational disaster, even though they could have medaled with the people they sent, if the USS staff had planned properly.
And, USS ended up without enough women to enter the 1500 meters, which I hope turns out to be a major humiliation for U.S. Speedskating. Certainly, by now, this horribly corrupt and incompetent sports federation has reached critical mass for a major shake-up.
posted by Eva at 7:55 AM
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