Those who would have been drafted by World Athletics (WA) would have been athletes of any end of the ranking.
One could imagine that by preventing other athletes from participating, the France thus avoids opponents. On the form, it’s true. But not on the substance: those who would have been drafted by WA would have been athletes of any end of the ranking.
None of them would have aimed for medals, and therefore could not have been a rival for the Blues.
Have any Swiss been pretermined by the “administrative laziness” of our neighbours? “No,” says Louis Heyer, who expresses himself more as a lover of athletics than as a national coach of the middle distance.
He now knows that his speech will not change anything and that the 27 places left vacant by the France will not be real-allocated. If he speaks, it is so that the qualification system changes.
“It’s a lame system. Countries should not need to announce the athletes they do not want to qualify.
The opposite pattern should be made: at the end of the qualifications, each nation transmits the list of those it has chosen to keep and who have passed the minimas of the International Federation.”
The French delegation would have “voluntarily forgotten” to unregister the athletes it did not select for the competition in Eugene (from 15 to 24 July), thus depriving athletes from other countries of participation.
It is a story that embarrasses some, angers others, and that the Swiss coach of the middle distance, Louis Heyer, revealed Wednesday morning after going through the list of participants in the Worlds in Eugene (USA) next week.
To understand the “case”, it is first necessary to explain the selection modalities for the prestigious competition. “There are minimas and a ranking system,” Heyer asks.
“Take for example the 800 meters and imagine that World athletics (formerly called International Athletics Federation) defines that there will be 48 selected for this event.
