June 10, 2024 • 34 mins
If you're not entrenched in the marathon world, it may surprise you to know that the fastest qualifiers aren't always the ones who are actually sent to the Olympics. The runners that make the team are entirely at the discretion of Athletics Australia. It's a policy that's seen one of our best marathoners - top-three finisher, Lisa Weightman - miss out on selection for Paris, triggering a heated debate online and in the athletics community.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Here at Two Good Sports, we would like to acknowledge
the traditional owners of the land on which we record
this podcast. The werengerie people. This land was never seated,
always was always will be. Hello, Hello, bonjour, Dare I
say welcome bien venue to two Good Sports Sports And
(00:21):
he's told differently, I'm Georgie Turney.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I would try my French, but I'd be really found
out for my lack of attention in year nine.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hello George, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I am so so good, And yes I've added a
little bit of French flavor because we are going to
be talking about the Olympic Games.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's really in contrast to the fact that you're wearing
a Morons guernsey.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
You're a woman of many interests.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Jeremy, thank you so much for pointing out my incredible
fashion choice today. It does lead into my good sport
bad sport for today. And I'm just going to clear
the desk for a moment and just step at top
the platform that I've built for myself, because soapbox is already,
clapbox is ready, because I am ready to give a
(01:03):
fair whack to men that I considered giants when I
was growing up watching my favorite game being rugby League.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
The State of Origin has happened.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Game one, Queensland the victors, but a lot of the commentators,
a lot of former players, a lot of the coaching
staff that we saw.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I really have a very, very very big issue with them.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
In the opening eight minutes of the State of Origin game,
Reese Walsh, who yes, I hold my hands up, he's
one of my favorites. I know, he was absolutely pole axed,
pole axed in the opening minutes by Joseph sula Ee
And can I just say that this is not the
advertisement that you want for rugby League. Joseph sually E
(01:47):
was sent off and then I tell you what these
giants are the game that I have looked up to,
bent over backwards.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
To try and be like not to send off a bulletins.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Reese Walsh was unconscious on the ground after getting a
shoulder to the face, and they were trying to be like,
I mean, it's Origin. Maybe in Clubland that's a sendoff,
but in Origin, please it's twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Grow up, get over it. It's a sendoff.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I send off.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Begin to tell you how darring it is as someone who,
let's be honest, watches Rugby League only for origin, which
is a lot of the AFL sort of audience, of
which concussion is a massive topic in the AFL. At
the moment you watch again inside the opening ten minutes,
and the reaction online is like, if he did that
in AFL, he'd get fifty to life.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yes you, oh, who's the best? We love him.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yes, he has the actual accurate analysis that was necessary
for this game. Rugby League pundits, hang your heads in shame.
This is all that.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
You need, um, just watching the other code here, and
these guys wouldn't last a second in the AFL because
that action there, that would get your forty weeks in
bridge and that is not on. These guys are off
their heads, just a diving headshot. They wouldn't last around.
(03:11):
They're not well over there.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
This is cooked it and it was really difficult to
watch and gratefully Reese Walsh got up.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Reese was fine.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Reese was fine, but it was deemed a Category one
head injury because he was unconscious on the ground for
some time before all the trainers got out to him.
He eventually passed his HIA, which is insane as well.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
I'm like, what SOROWD.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Does that work.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, So technically he would have been allowed back onto
the field, but because it was deemed a.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Category one head injury, he couldn't go back.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
They would have taken to the hospital.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
For just to be sure, ambulance, air ambulance would be called.
And look, I really like Joseph Suwali. I think he
is an outstanding young talent. But you cannot you cannot
do that. And in the scope of everything that's happening
right now, when it comes to discussions about concussion in
every single code on this planet, to go in not
(04:03):
trying to make a tackle with your shoulder to the head,
it is a straight up send off. And he's also
likely going to be suspended for four matches as well.
So every single person that was like, oh, it's a
very big cal in the origin, this is crazy.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Get out, get out. The game doesn't want you.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Get out.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
My favorite thing is Billy Slater in the postmatch, of course,
is the Morons coach being like, I'm just going to
keep my thoughts to myself, which.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is really giving.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'm fine fine, and you're like, oh you're not fine, baby,
You're sure you're not fine.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's like well what did you think? Yes, which it
just was the ultimate.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
He'd never really said anything, but I was like, oh
he fuming would would be understandable because he is he's
a game winner, which he didn't need him Moron's one anyway.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Look, I mean is it was always going to be
tough for New South Wales to come back with only
twelve men on the field for seventy minutes, and I've
got to say they were brave. But it's just one
of those things that Yes, of course, the word I
kept hearing was unfortunate, so unfortunate that this has happened
to the spectacle of the game.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So unfortunate, this is the thing. Ah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's unfortunate that Reyes Walsh was boll axed in the
first seven.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Minutes by an illegal tackle.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Like h So there's a bad sport.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I'm going to come in with a good sport and
changing goes to talk about something positive, but I am
going to give the good sports surprising no one to
nil Danaher and the Danaher family and everything that they
do for the Big Freeze. I think sometimes in sport
we talk about concussions, we talk about you know, sometimes
the things that make headlines are super negative and you
(05:34):
can forget just how unifying being part of the sports
community is. Yes, and the Big Freeze is really special.
And the fact that you are going to look out
over the mcg and just see a sea of blue
the beanies they're so warm, they're so warm this they're
almost too warm, which is a weird thing to say
because it's acting at the moment in Melbourne, but they've
(05:54):
just done and there's kids ones now.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
But it's more for someone in the face of the beast.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That is what Neil calls m and D to turn
it into what it's become, the tenth Big Freeze, and
it just is something that makes me immensely proud to
be part of the AFL community in any way.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Does it feel like longer than a year since I
last did it? Sure? Was it actually that cold? No? No,
surprisingly not that cold.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Because so for anyone that doesn't follow along the Big
Freeze game, there's a moment it's halftime, right, No pregame, Oh, pregame, pregame,
it's pregame where notable faces from around the country don
their best attire and are sent down a freezing cold,
slippery dip into an ice, ice, ice cold bath.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
You're saying, not that cold?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah? I mean did I go in basically head to
toe leather? You did?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You were dressed as Maleficent so.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
That it was all like water repellent.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Sure was my head piece essentially at swim Cat so
my hair didn't get wet. Probably yes, but no, in
all seriousness, just a really special weekend and hopefully hopefully
we are steps closer to a cure. And again a
big shout out to beck down her My god, no
one works.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Other no one does.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
She's and she's such a It's such a wonderful family
and all that they.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Do, four brothers.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It's it's incredible what they are doing, because I do
think that every single year, the awareness that is raised,
just purely awareness is incredible. There are so many people
now around Australia who would know what MND stands for disease,
and they may not have before this moment. So yes,
hats off, hats off to them.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That might be our strongest bad sport emotionally and our
strongest good sport.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I've deflated the so kay, I've deflated it.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I think there are some people in athletics that would
like to get back onto it, because our deep dive
this week is something that while it might have been
part of selection criteria for years in years gone by,
it has come to such an ugly head in the
women's marathon. And we are mere months out from the
Paris Games, and this is when we see the good
stories ramp up, particularly in track and field. Yes, because
(08:03):
they get one shot, one opportunity every four years to
make their impact.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But we need to know the faces that we're going
to support.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Unfortunately, even though we have such a strong cohold of
women's marathons runners, they're making headlines for not necessarily all
the right reasons. And we're going to take you through
the deep dive and blow your mind. It's not just
the fastest runners that get to go to the.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Games, Jeremy. The Olympic Games fast approaching. They are a
blink away.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
They really are.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And if I was a magical runner who could run
very very fast do incredible things, and I somehow had
run the third fastest time for my particular event and
that was all we needed. The third fastest time gets
you qualification through to the Games, I would think I'm
on my way. I am the top three runners in
(09:04):
this country. I've packed the bags, I have been looking
up all the places that I'm going to eat, all
of the pastries.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I am ready to go.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But you, jellmy are telling me that my dreams in
this magical world would be dashed.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
There's a word called discretion that is used for Olympic qualification.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And particularly over the last couple of weeks in the
women's marathon, there have been headlines across the country about
the fact that it's not necessarily our three fastest runners,
or in this case it isn't that have been given
their ticket to Paris, and chaos and lawsuits and lawyers
(09:44):
have ensued, and understandably enough, but we want to start because,
as you said, they're magical. The pace at which they
can run a marathon is so impressive, and there's incredible
stories for the three women who have qualified, and we
want to start by celebrate them.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
I think that.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
What's key to note here, deal listener, is that there
is an argument that in this country marathon running has
never been at its strongest.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Especially in the women's competition.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
We have such a deep pool, so much so that
six women have run underneath the qualification time that was
necessary to get to a games. However, we've only got
three spots.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Six doesn't go into three comfortably, and so there was
all this anticipation about who was going to get selected.
And some of these women are already household names, particularly
in track and field. So let me introduce you to
the three women who were selected. Shane Diver. Now, Georgie,
you said in a magical land where you would be
a runner, Well, Shane Diver started running at thirty three
(10:46):
years old. I'm thirty three in one of the greatest stories.
So essentially, her sister invited her to the Tan to
do a fun run and she was like, you know what,
I've just had a baby.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I'll get into fitness. She did her first lap of
the Tan in twelve minutes.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, not bad for someone who's never trained.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Just to give you an idea, it was it. And
then she did her next lab and she's like, oh,
I shaved forty seconds off. That not bad.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So she decided to join a rum club. Again, we're
talking in her thirties and has had a baby and
everything else, and in that time a coach has gone.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
G you're fast, You've got some skill sets here. Things
that would never happen to me, even magical land flash forward.
She is the Australian women's record holder in the marathon.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
She was selected for Tokyo at forty four years old,
and before I harp on about her age and qualification,
about the fact that she will be forty seven in Paris,
this is a direct quote. I find it extremely frustrating
that a lot of media attention is mainly focused on
my age. Do you know who didn't listen Channel seven
when they were like the year she was born? This
(11:49):
was number one, because it just blows our mind that
you can find, especially track and field form so like.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
But she is an incredible story. She has two children.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
She is our fastest ever run in the marathon, and
during the qualification time ran the fastest time.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yes, so in that qualification period, So to qualify for
the marathon, you have from I think it was like
the end of twenty twenty two till early twenty twenty
four to post a time that fits underneath the two
hours twenty six minute mark, let's say, And she was
able to do that at the end of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
So she is on the plane and she had the
fastest time, so she's off.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
The second fastest time was Genevieve Gregson, a name that
is synonymous with sport because she is going to her
fourth consecutive Olympics.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yes, and if you don't know Gregson, you may know
her as Genevieve Lacarz.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
That was her maiden name, absolutely, and the Gregson name
is because her partner made the final.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Her partner Ryan made the final in the fifteen hundred
meters in Rio. So just like a very athletic family, she.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Used to compete and is the Australian record holder in
the steeple chase.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yes, which is where I have to say I remember
her most four and I would say a lot of
our listeners would remember her because there was those really
heartbreaking scenes in Tokyo where she's running the steeple chase,
the final steeple I think it was the final one,
and she ruptured her achilles tendon on that final final jump,
(13:15):
landing on the track and just screaming. And he just
saw her there on the ground and I was like,
that is on the world stage to do that significant
injury in the biggest moment of your life.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Oh, it took my breath away.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Watching the steeple chase hurts my achilles, like the actual
event itself is wild. And I had the privilege of
chatting to Genevieve recently and I said, how did he
get into that? She's like, I trained in America and
I'm like, well that probably okay, and She's like no
one else wanted to do it.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
And I was like, oh, well, I'll have a crack.
But in that moment, she.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Thought my career might be over. Yes, my achilles is
giving way. Everything about this sport just isn't agreeing with
my body. Yeah, and steple chase is typically three thousand minutes.
And remember that Tokyo was actually in twenty twenty one, yeah,
not twenty two, so she hasn't had a four year
Olympic cycle to prepare for Paris. Took that time off
to have her first child and to rehab. Has then
(14:08):
thought I'll give the marathon a go.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Turns out she's good, and by good, I mean very
goddamn good. In that time of adopting a new sport
that goes for forty two kilometers, she's run the third
fastest ever Australian marathon.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Visual thirty nine k's more than she was usually doing.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Is just such an inspiration and again is going to
her fourth Olympics, but has decided to pick up a
different and very very competitive discipline. Phenomenal, really really incredible story.
And then we get to our third qualifier.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
As we can only have three, remember because we can
only harly have three.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Jess Stenson, who may ring a bell for the fact
that she won gold in Birmingham in the marathon.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
So she Commonwealth Games.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
She's a proven performer in the green and gold on
the big stage. She's heading to her second Olympics because
she missed out on Tokyo. Yes, because she had a
bone injury that came about after she had her first child,
which they're so incredible, I know, well more incredibly her
second child was born in September of last year. No yeah,
(15:17):
and since giving birth has then ran the time that
has qualified her in this top six that's.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Like six months. It's actually insane. She ran the time
when a baby was six months old.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Again, I can't begin to tell you how much as
a mum this blows, or as anyone that blows your mind.
Of the top six women that made this qualifying time,
five of them have had children.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I just can't. I just don't understand. But Jeremy I
would assume. So if we've gone Shane Diver, she has
the fastest time right she's on the plane. Genevieve Gregson
second fastest time she's on the plane, Jessica Stenson third
fastest time she's on the butt.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
She was the fifth fastest qualified during the period.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
And this is where the drama ensues because Lisa Weightman
is one of Australia's best ever marathon runners. If selected,
she would be going to her fifth Games in track
and field, and during this period she did run the
third fastest time. So but she is not on the
(16:19):
plane to patters, she didn't receive the phone call. Yes,
and understandably so she and her camp are devastated.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So this is a decision that is made by Athletics Australia. Yes,
when they are choosing their squad, they have to make
these tough decisions about who gets to represent them and
our country on the world's biggest stage.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I must admit I was ignorant to the selection process
that happens in athletics. I made the massive assumption that
it's the top three times and away you go. There
is a word called discretion yes in their selection guidelines,
which is what this all hinges on. And Athletics Australia
have come back to the point where they're saying we're
using our discretion and where selecting Jess to go to
(17:02):
the Games.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yes, and I would assume and I think one of
the reasons that they have given themselves is that is
her history with being able to perform at big events, right,
like she has that gold medal experience.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And also what we know about Paris is it's going
to be very hot, yes, and treacherous conditions.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And this is why the marathon and the selection process
for this event and other events. But it can come
down to discretion because it is really difficult to try
and synchronize synchronize a selection process, right you can only
run a few marathons at your top speed through the
course of a year. The courses come into play because
(17:41):
a lot of courses are a lot flatter than others.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Others are hillier.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So depending on where you choose to run, that will
obviously affect your time. So among these six runners, a
lot of their times were posted at different places and
throughout different periods throughout the two years.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Their training blocks are about thirteenek right, so you're roughly
looking at three months there lead up to each marathon,
so they probably have two, maybe three elite marathons in
them annually. So they target these particular races where they
know they're more likely to run a better time in
order to qualify. And also it's noted for marathon runners
where the prize money.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Is So for me though, I feel that this term discretion.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It makes sense for a lot of sports and a
lot of sporting bodies to anything with the team like this. Yeah,
so why is this case different from so many others?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So Lisa Weightman on the fifteenth of May made an
appeal to the National Sports Tribunal and her argument was
that the nomination criteria was not properly applied and there
was no material in which Athletic Australia's decision could be
reasonably based. The NST found in favor of Lisa Weightman,
so they went away did their due diligence. In this time,
(18:55):
Lisa's got a manager and this is all getting very
muddy and very uncomfortable behind the scenes, in the fact
that AA hasn't announced that these three women have got
the ticket to Paris. While this process is going on,
AA say cool, we're sticking with our mark. The National
Sports Trust then present their findings to AA and say, look,
(19:16):
we think that you should have an independent committee to
assess this because in our findings, you know, there's an
unfair bias here. That's their recommendation, and Athletics Australia have
gone yeah nah, so we hear you no. And then
in this time, we are already in the Olympic training
block for the marathon.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
This is even happening last night.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
We are less than thirteen weeks out.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
So these women are training like they're going to Paris,
believing that they may be going to Paris, waiting for
the ticket. And the other thing is all of this
takes a lot of money. It's lawyers, it's engagement, and
we just want to highlight no one's winning here. No
poor Jess Stinson and the pressure on you receive the
call to say that you're going to an Olympics, you
(20:01):
go into Paris and perhaps you weren't expecting it, And
what a dream. I've just had a kid. This is
just my Cinderella moment and someone who I'm close to
because the athletics fraternity and especially marathon runners.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
They travel around the world together.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, it's very very tight knit. These people are teammates. Yes,
that's an individual sport, but they are teammates, they're friends,
they've known each other for decades.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So on Wednesday, the twenty ninth of May, five minutes
before the appeal deadline, Lisa informs Athletics Australia that she
was going to make a final appeal to the Court
of Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
So she's taken it to the next level.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Several hours later, she pulls it back and basically says,
you know what, I'm dropping this.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I'm done here and my understanding is it came down
to cost.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Well her official statement after she decided to drop that appeal.
What I am most disappointed about is Athletics Australia's own
internal systems and procedures that have allowed this outcome and which,
unless corrected, will negatively impact future Australian athletes and the
legitimate claims to represent Australia.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And big names within athletics, someone like Sally Pearson who
has then gone on to have a career in media
after being an olympian herself wrote an article that went
gamebusters that started with the line I'm shocked, Lisa Weightman
is heartbroken and Athletics Australia is in crisis. She goes
on to say, I'm disappointed with the national selection panel,
(21:27):
but I'm more shocked at the integrity of Athletics Australia
and how this has become a total fast So on
the eve of an Olympics, Athletics Australia are getting whacked. Yes,
and people like you and I are shocked, going, what
do you mean? What do you mean in a time
based event.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
It's not the fastest who goes, It's not.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
The fastest, like this is brand new information.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I also think though, that it is case in point
once again of just the reactive power of social media
one hundred percent, because this is where it started to
get really nasty. People started to see these articles from
Sally Pearson. They started to see the headlines bombshell Athletics Australia,
and they then were like, oh, hang on a second,
(22:12):
what is this. This must be an absolute outrage. What
should I be doing? Muddying this further is of course,
at its heart, these are people, the human side the.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Emotions of this.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I mean, there's so much you say it ecstasy, you know,
the Cinderella story, but then there's absolute heartbreak because what
you thought was going to be your dream coming to
life is not the case anymore. And we saw that
with Lisa Weightman's husband, Lachlan MacArthur weighing in on social media,
a move that he may now himself have like say.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
That he regrets.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
He deleted Twitter after making these comments, and you can
understand that emotions were very heightened, but he tweeted or xed.
It still feels weird to say that, but sure xd
Jess Trengo, which is Jess's maiden name, could you please
take down your background photo of my family? By the way,
this was after one of the seven to one all
time head to head wins by Lisa Weightman.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So this is after Jess Stenson is selected as that
in that third spot.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But it was yet to be announced by Athletics, yet.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
To be announced, but the actual.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Run selection process had happened.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, they were aware, right, Yes, so the official announcement
hasn't happened, but all the main players know what's going on, yes,
And so Lisa Weightman's husband has gone to Jess's personal account,
seen a display picture of them all celebrating looking like
happy family, and publicly tweeted and publicly tweeted take that down.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
There's a heartbroken family here.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
And we do live in a media landscape where it's
that sort of fodder that gives this stuff massive five.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
All the screenshots that came all of.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
A sudden, it goes there is disdain, there's hate, there's
drama behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Do you think that that was inflated because it was women?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I know that a man has necessarily like taken this
first blown it up, But do you think that part
of the drama that everyone then attached themselves onto when
it came to this story was because it was women,
female athletes.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I actually had this conversation with Genevieve Gregson, who again
I had an event with her in the lead up
to this being made in a public announcement, and she
was understandably very Pg. Thirteen in her description of all
else she used to play the game.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Still she did discretionary.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Remember she at the time didn't tell me who the
parties were, just said, look, there is a pretty ugly
dispute happening behind the scenes, no one wants to see it,
and you know, I just feel for my community at
the moment. And I actually said to her the only
thing that I can compare it to in my life
is that I always feel like I'm pitted against other
women in media. And genuinely, I've been in meetings with
(24:46):
bosses that have said to me, you weren't the person,
but I can only give the job to you or
Georgie who's better of which I in my early twenties
had to have the grace to go that's your job,
not mine.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think she's one fool, and you can make your
own choice.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
But there is this idea, particularly with women, yes, that
yours has to be competition within the competition.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Because this is a thing. It is a competition. We
all know it's a competition. It's athletices.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
We get it.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But then you don't need to necessarily then go on
this at this extra level.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And there must be this awful feeling in going. A
decision was made and you rightly so believe it to
be unjust because and I can see the merits of
your argument, but I got a ticket to Paris. Yeah,
ticket to Paris, and in credit to Lochlan MacArthur. Once
(25:41):
the image was taken down, he basically tweeted saying, look,
thank you to Jess for taking that down. I have
a heartbroken family here and he then deleted his account.
And you can understand from the Weightman camp perspective going,
I'm meant to be going to my fifth Games.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, if it was me and I thought that I
had clocked that time, you know, me my magical running
world and I'm on the way to Paris and then
I'm told no, you're not. I would have I would
feel like the world had completely shifted and I'm falling, falling, falling.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And you just feel that with her public statement, perhaps
this situation wasn't met with the empathy and the nuances
of what it was.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Maybe transparency.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I always feel like, I mean, we give governing bodies
a fairwack on this podcast for not being as transparent
as maybe they and I think that's the case here again,
like there has been a communication breakdown here. Jane Fleming,
who is the Athletics Australia president, said in the statement,
you know, we acknowledge the difficult task of Olympic nomination selection,
(26:45):
whether a more athletes qualified than positions available. Any allegations
that Athletics Australia or Athletics Australia's selection panel has not
acted with integrity is also defamatory and simply not true.
So she stood up for the process. But should the
selection process change?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Well, this is where Sally Pearson at the end of
our article says, we want answers, and so are there
answers when we look around the world. Is this a
scenario that's unique to Australia or is it not? And
you've had an example that blew my mind.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I did tell me because you may be seeing there thinking, yeah,
it's crazy, guys, this is insane.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Be the fastest six week fly? Yeah, how do we
do this?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But it's also not only rules for us, rules for others.
This is standard practice around the world, including in the
East African powerhouses of Ethiopia and Kenya. So Ethiopia had
ninety eight women run underneath the qualifying time of two
(27:45):
hours and twenty six minutes fifty seconds during that qualification period.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
How many women run in the they could have fielded
the entire field. Kenya had sixty six, unbelievable. So they
are also making decisions of ninety eight into three and
I tell you what for them as well, they did
not pick the three fastest times posted. There was one
in there that was in the mid fifties, like the
fifty fifth time, fastest time she is on the way
(28:10):
because they thought you are a big event athlete, you
have the experience to back it up.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I am picking you.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
The fifty fifth fastest qualifying time in the Olympic qualifying
period is going to Paris.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I think so yeah, because they're also fast ninety eight
ninety eight underneath the qualification time. So these decisions are
happening around the world. Discretion is applied across the board.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And now we do have someone like Tamsa Manu, who's
so entrenched in athletics in Australia, to give her two
cents about what's happened here.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
But also what could be a potential solution. So let's
have a listener to Tamson.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
You can see why she's disappointed. And there's a lot
of emotion around this selection. But unless you make it
really clear cut and you say in the selection criteria, right,
we are picking the top three times. And again that's
hard too because marathon you have to target that race
and I know that the USA has a marathon championship
trials because of that, so they take out the gray
(29:07):
area in the selection and the first three across the
line in those marathon Championship trials get selected, and the
fourth person is the alternate, and so on. So I
hope what Australian Athletics does is we do what the
American team does, and we do name an alternate.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
I wonder how Lisa would feel about getting on the
plane as a sub.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Oh, do you know what I think? At least you'd
be on the plane. Do you know what I mean?
Anything could happen, Anything could happen. Injuries happen all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
And also the argument there, and it's a fair one
where Jamson's like had one race the first three to
get across the line. There you go, let's solve this.
It's what happens in America. That's great. This whole scenario
just doesn't pass the pub test. There are no winners,
it seems, on either side. But what we will be
doing is getting our green and gold on and cheering
(29:53):
the hell out of the three athletes that have qualified.
Oh yes, and hopefully from this point on can just
celebrate them and their achievements. Because the women that are
on the plane haven't done anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Georgie, it's time for fun fact. Yes, it's time for
a fun fact. And they're featured.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
In our Bad Sports because we love when tennis players
have an absolute spat and for whatever reason, maybe it's
just because they're in France, they get angry at the moment,
don't they get passionate.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Here's some fun.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Facts, but also a good news story. And that mister
Gucci Yannick Sinner. You know that he's like he uses
a Gucci bag.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Oh yes, I do. I thought you met.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
He was like some unknown Aircci thrown.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
I was like or a player Gucci. I was running
number one thousand in the world.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
I was like the one who the fans dresses carrots for.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
He's a Gucci No you remember him of course as
the winner of the Australian Open.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
He is the first ever Italian number one.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Love it, I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Good on him.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
We'll staying with tennis because I wanted to bring a
fun fact jemy in relation to the courts that they
play on French Open synonymous with a clay court, right, yes,
and as we know.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Play again, we can't get the violins out. I'm not
doing it. I refuse.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
But as we now know it Roland Garross. Of course
it's famous for its red clay. But terra cotta, if
you will, terra cotta. I love that that is the
correct shade. But Jemmy, did you know that clay court's
not always terra cotta.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
But that's the color of clay. Ha ha ha.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
It would appear, yes, except if you're at the Madrid
Open in twenty twelve. There the clay was blue. They
used blue clay.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So like our hard.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Courts, say Australia called and wants it's hard court color back,
we are the sky blue.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Well this is why because apparently the billionaire owner of
the tournament Indrid, wanted the courts to be blue because
they had become so popular in hard court use, right yep.
So they were like, yeah, let's just just just make
this clay court, let's just make that blue. However, it
resulted in a more slippery surface because they've got paint
(32:17):
in the clay, because it's usually like crushed up brick, right,
like it's genuinely terra cotta.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Yeah, genuinely.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, So they've actually somehow by making it blue, they've
changed the complete fabric of it and it meant a
slippery surface, and the play.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Is hated it.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Well, they already slide around so much in regular clay,
so it was more slippery.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
And that's the thing, Like, there's so many nuances.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
To what exact balls they use and why some players
excelling clay and others are more for grass courts. So
there's so many differences to these different surfaces, even though
they're all Grand slams. Yeah, and if you mess with
the clay, particularly the Spaniards, they're not going to be happy.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Can you guess one of the players that was particularly
put out? Think about a player who's not necessarily adverse
to being a little bit vocal slides around a lot
like Nova would.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Have thrown his toys. I'm you dould have thrown his
toys so far out of the cot.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
He was mad. He was mad.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Shortstone split on the rig is stunning how white sides.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
The man lives in a split, lives in a split,
and so for him, he got knocked out.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
So he was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
It must be the court.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
It's the court, it's the court. This blue clay, I
think not.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I think not, and therefore after that the ATP banded
blue Clay was never.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Used to Thank you so much for joining us on
Too Good Sports. Please leave us a review.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
They're very helpful, and remember to subscribe and check us
out on social media as well at two Good Sports Podcasts. Georgie,
I know that you need therapy after Origin, so I hope,
I hope you have a strong week and that people
check in on their Origin loving friends.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Thank you so much, and let's call a sendoff.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Be a good sport
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Before
Here at Two Good Sports, we would like to acknowledge
the traditional owners of the land on which we record
this podcast. The werengerie people. This land was never seated,
always was always will be. Hello, Hello, bonjour, Dare I
say welcome bien venue to two Good Sports Sports And
(00:21):
he's told differently, I'm Georgie Turney.
Speaker 2 (00:23):
I would try my French, but I'd be really found
out for my lack of attention in year nine.
Speaker 3 (00:27):
Hello George, how are you?
Speaker 1 (00:29):
I am so so good, And yes I've added a
little bit of French flavor because we are going to
be talking about the Olympic Games.
Speaker 2 (00:37):
It's really in contrast to the fact that you're wearing
a Morons guernsey.
Speaker 3 (00:41):
You're a woman of many interests.
Speaker 1 (00:43):
Jeremy, thank you so much for pointing out my incredible
fashion choice today. It does lead into my good sport
bad sport for today. And I'm just going to clear
the desk for a moment and just step at top
the platform that I've built for myself, because soapbox is already,
clapbox is ready, because I am ready to give a
(01:03):
fair whack to men that I considered giants when I
was growing up watching my favorite game being rugby League.
Speaker 4 (01:10):
The State of Origin has happened.
Speaker 1 (01:12):
Game one, Queensland the victors, but a lot of the commentators,
a lot of former players, a lot of the coaching
staff that we saw.
Speaker 4 (01:21):
I really have a very, very very big issue with them.
Speaker 1 (01:25):
In the opening eight minutes of the State of Origin game,
Reese Walsh, who yes, I hold my hands up, he's
one of my favorites. I know, he was absolutely pole axed,
pole axed in the opening minutes by Joseph sula Ee
And can I just say that this is not the
advertisement that you want for rugby League. Joseph sually E
(01:47):
was sent off and then I tell you what these
giants are the game that I have looked up to,
bent over backwards.
Speaker 4 (01:54):
To try and be like not to send off a bulletins.
Speaker 1 (01:57):
Reese Walsh was unconscious on the ground after getting a
shoulder to the face, and they were trying to be like,
I mean, it's Origin. Maybe in Clubland that's a sendoff,
but in Origin, please it's twenty twenty four.
Speaker 4 (02:10):
Grow up, get over it. It's a sendoff.
Speaker 3 (02:13):
I send off.
Speaker 2 (02:14):
Begin to tell you how darring it is as someone who,
let's be honest, watches Rugby League only for origin, which
is a lot of the AFL sort of audience, of
which concussion is a massive topic in the AFL. At
the moment you watch again inside the opening ten minutes,
and the reaction online is like, if he did that
in AFL, he'd get fifty to life.
Speaker 3 (02:35):
Yes you, oh, who's the best? We love him.
Speaker 1 (02:38):
Yes, he has the actual accurate analysis that was necessary
for this game. Rugby League pundits, hang your heads in shame.
This is all that.
Speaker 5 (02:48):
You need, um, just watching the other code here, and
these guys wouldn't last a second in the AFL because
that action there, that would get your forty weeks in
bridge and that is not on. These guys are off
their heads, just a diving headshot. They wouldn't last around.
(03:11):
They're not well over there.
Speaker 2 (03:12):
This is cooked it and it was really difficult to
watch and gratefully Reese Walsh got up.
Speaker 4 (03:19):
Reese was fine.
Speaker 1 (03:19):
Reese was fine, but it was deemed a Category one
head injury because he was unconscious on the ground for
some time before all the trainers got out to him.
He eventually passed his HIA, which is insane as well.
Speaker 4 (03:32):
I'm like, what SOROWD.
Speaker 3 (03:33):
Does that work.
Speaker 1 (03:34):
Yeah, So technically he would have been allowed back onto
the field, but because it was deemed a.
Speaker 4 (03:38):
Category one head injury, he couldn't go back.
Speaker 3 (03:41):
They would have taken to the hospital.
Speaker 1 (03:42):
For just to be sure, ambulance, air ambulance would be called.
And look, I really like Joseph Suwali. I think he
is an outstanding young talent. But you cannot you cannot
do that. And in the scope of everything that's happening
right now, when it comes to discussions about concussion in
every single code on this planet, to go in not
(04:03):
trying to make a tackle with your shoulder to the head,
it is a straight up send off. And he's also
likely going to be suspended for four matches as well.
So every single person that was like, oh, it's a
very big cal in the origin, this is crazy.
Speaker 4 (04:16):
Get out, get out. The game doesn't want you.
Speaker 3 (04:18):
Get out.
Speaker 2 (04:18):
My favorite thing is Billy Slater in the postmatch, of course,
is the Morons coach being like, I'm just going to
keep my thoughts to myself, which.
Speaker 3 (04:26):
Is really giving.
Speaker 2 (04:27):
I'm fine fine, and you're like, oh you're not fine, baby,
You're sure you're not fine.
Speaker 3 (04:32):
He's like well what did you think? Yes, which it
just was the ultimate.
Speaker 2 (04:36):
He'd never really said anything, but I was like, oh
he fuming would would be understandable because he is he's
a game winner, which he didn't need him Moron's one anyway.
Speaker 1 (04:43):
Look, I mean is it was always going to be
tough for New South Wales to come back with only
twelve men on the field for seventy minutes, and I've
got to say they were brave. But it's just one
of those things that Yes, of course, the word I
kept hearing was unfortunate, so unfortunate that this has happened
to the spectacle of the game.
Speaker 4 (05:00):
So unfortunate, this is the thing. Ah, yeah, it is.
Speaker 1 (05:04):
It's unfortunate that Reyes Walsh was boll axed in the
first seven.
Speaker 4 (05:07):
Minutes by an illegal tackle.
Speaker 3 (05:10):
Like h So there's a bad sport.
Speaker 2 (05:13):
I'm going to come in with a good sport and
changing goes to talk about something positive, but I am
going to give the good sports surprising no one to
nil Danaher and the Danaher family and everything that they
do for the Big Freeze. I think sometimes in sport
we talk about concussions, we talk about you know, sometimes
the things that make headlines are super negative and you
(05:34):
can forget just how unifying being part of the sports
community is. Yes, and the Big Freeze is really special.
And the fact that you are going to look out
over the mcg and just see a sea of blue
the beanies they're so warm, they're so warm this they're
almost too warm, which is a weird thing to say
because it's acting at the moment in Melbourne, but they've
(05:54):
just done and there's kids ones now.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
But it's more for someone in the face of the beast.
Speaker 2 (06:00):
That is what Neil calls m and D to turn
it into what it's become, the tenth Big Freeze, and
it just is something that makes me immensely proud to
be part of the AFL community in any way.
Speaker 3 (06:12):
Does it feel like longer than a year since I
last did it? Sure? Was it actually that cold? No? No,
surprisingly not that cold.
Speaker 1 (06:19):
Because so for anyone that doesn't follow along the Big
Freeze game, there's a moment it's halftime, right, No pregame, Oh, pregame, pregame,
it's pregame where notable faces from around the country don
their best attire and are sent down a freezing cold,
slippery dip into an ice, ice, ice cold bath.
Speaker 4 (06:38):
You're saying, not that cold?
Speaker 3 (06:39):
Yeah? I mean did I go in basically head to
toe leather? You did?
Speaker 4 (06:43):
You were dressed as Maleficent so.
Speaker 3 (06:45):
That it was all like water repellent.
Speaker 2 (06:48):
Sure was my head piece essentially at swim Cat so
my hair didn't get wet. Probably yes, but no, in
all seriousness, just a really special weekend and hopefully hopefully
we are steps closer to a cure. And again a
big shout out to beck down her My god, no
one works.
Speaker 4 (07:07):
Other no one does.
Speaker 1 (07:08):
She's and she's such a It's such a wonderful family
and all that they.
Speaker 3 (07:11):
Do, four brothers.
Speaker 1 (07:14):
It's it's incredible what they are doing, because I do
think that every single year, the awareness that is raised,
just purely awareness is incredible. There are so many people
now around Australia who would know what MND stands for disease,
and they may not have before this moment. So yes,
hats off, hats off to them.
Speaker 2 (07:32):
That might be our strongest bad sport emotionally and our
strongest good sport.
Speaker 4 (07:37):
I've deflated the so kay, I've deflated it.
Speaker 3 (07:40):
Well.
Speaker 2 (07:41):
I think there are some people in athletics that would
like to get back onto it, because our deep dive
this week is something that while it might have been
part of selection criteria for years in years gone by,
it has come to such an ugly head in the
women's marathon. And we are mere months out from the
Paris Games, and this is when we see the good
stories ramp up, particularly in track and field. Yes, because
(08:03):
they get one shot, one opportunity every four years to
make their impact.
Speaker 4 (08:09):
But we need to know the faces that we're going
to support.
Speaker 2 (08:11):
Unfortunately, even though we have such a strong cohold of
women's marathons runners, they're making headlines for not necessarily all
the right reasons. And we're going to take you through
the deep dive and blow your mind. It's not just
the fastest runners that get to go to the.
Speaker 1 (08:25):
Games, Jeremy. The Olympic Games fast approaching. They are a
blink away.
Speaker 3 (08:42):
They really are.
Speaker 1 (08:42):
And if I was a magical runner who could run
very very fast do incredible things, and I somehow had
run the third fastest time for my particular event and
that was all we needed. The third fastest time gets
you qualification through to the Games, I would think I'm
on my way. I am the top three runners in
(09:04):
this country. I've packed the bags, I have been looking
up all the places that I'm going to eat, all
of the pastries.
Speaker 4 (09:10):
I am ready to go.
Speaker 1 (09:12):
But you, jellmy are telling me that my dreams in
this magical world would be dashed.
Speaker 3 (09:20):
There's a word called discretion that is used for Olympic qualification.
Speaker 2 (09:24):
And particularly over the last couple of weeks in the
women's marathon, there have been headlines across the country about
the fact that it's not necessarily our three fastest runners,
or in this case it isn't that have been given
their ticket to Paris, and chaos and lawsuits and lawyers
(09:44):
have ensued, and understandably enough, but we want to start because,
as you said, they're magical. The pace at which they
can run a marathon is so impressive, and there's incredible
stories for the three women who have qualified, and we
want to start by celebrate them.
Speaker 4 (10:01):
I think that.
Speaker 1 (10:02):
What's key to note here, deal listener, is that there
is an argument that in this country marathon running has
never been at its strongest.
Speaker 3 (10:10):
Especially in the women's competition.
Speaker 1 (10:11):
We have such a deep pool, so much so that
six women have run underneath the qualification time that was
necessary to get to a games. However, we've only got
three spots.
Speaker 2 (10:22):
Six doesn't go into three comfortably, and so there was
all this anticipation about who was going to get selected.
And some of these women are already household names, particularly
in track and field. So let me introduce you to
the three women who were selected. Shane Diver. Now, Georgie,
you said in a magical land where you would be
a runner, Well, Shane Diver started running at thirty three
(10:46):
years old. I'm thirty three in one of the greatest stories.
So essentially, her sister invited her to the Tan to
do a fun run and she was like, you know what,
I've just had a baby.
Speaker 3 (10:55):
I'll get into fitness. She did her first lap of
the Tan in twelve minutes.
Speaker 2 (10:58):
Okay, not bad for someone who's never trained.
Speaker 3 (11:02):
Just to give you an idea, it was it. And
then she did her next lab and she's like, oh,
I shaved forty seconds off. That not bad.
Speaker 2 (11:08):
So she decided to join a rum club. Again, we're
talking in her thirties and has had a baby and
everything else, and in that time a coach has gone.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
G you're fast, You've got some skill sets here. Things
that would never happen to me, even magical land flash forward.
She is the Australian women's record holder in the marathon.
Speaker 2 (11:28):
She was selected for Tokyo at forty four years old,
and before I harp on about her age and qualification,
about the fact that she will be forty seven in Paris,
this is a direct quote. I find it extremely frustrating
that a lot of media attention is mainly focused on
my age. Do you know who didn't listen Channel seven
when they were like the year she was born? This
(11:49):
was number one, because it just blows our mind that
you can find, especially track and field form so like.
Speaker 3 (11:56):
But she is an incredible story. She has two children.
Speaker 2 (12:00):
She is our fastest ever run in the marathon, and
during the qualification time ran the fastest time.
Speaker 1 (12:06):
Yes, so in that qualification period, So to qualify for
the marathon, you have from I think it was like
the end of twenty twenty two till early twenty twenty
four to post a time that fits underneath the two
hours twenty six minute mark, let's say, And she was
able to do that at the end of twenty twenty two.
Speaker 4 (12:23):
So she is on the plane and she had the
fastest time, so she's off.
Speaker 2 (12:26):
The second fastest time was Genevieve Gregson, a name that
is synonymous with sport because she is going to her
fourth consecutive Olympics.
Speaker 1 (12:35):
Yes, and if you don't know Gregson, you may know
her as Genevieve Lacarz.
Speaker 2 (12:38):
That was her maiden name, absolutely, and the Gregson name
is because her partner made the final.
Speaker 3 (12:42):
Her partner Ryan made the final in the fifteen hundred
meters in Rio. So just like a very athletic family, she.
Speaker 2 (12:50):
Used to compete and is the Australian record holder in
the steeple chase.
Speaker 1 (12:54):
Yes, which is where I have to say I remember
her most four and I would say a lot of
our listeners would remember her because there was those really
heartbreaking scenes in Tokyo where she's running the steeple chase,
the final steeple I think it was the final one,
and she ruptured her achilles tendon on that final final jump,
(13:15):
landing on the track and just screaming. And he just
saw her there on the ground and I was like,
that is on the world stage to do that significant
injury in the biggest moment of your life.
Speaker 4 (13:28):
Oh, it took my breath away.
Speaker 2 (13:29):
Watching the steeple chase hurts my achilles, like the actual
event itself is wild. And I had the privilege of
chatting to Genevieve recently and I said, how did he
get into that? She's like, I trained in America and
I'm like, well that probably okay, and She's like no
one else wanted to do it.
Speaker 3 (13:42):
And I was like, oh, well, I'll have a crack.
But in that moment, she.
Speaker 2 (13:46):
Thought my career might be over. Yes, my achilles is
giving way. Everything about this sport just isn't agreeing with
my body. Yeah, and steple chase is typically three thousand minutes.
And remember that Tokyo was actually in twenty twenty one, yeah,
not twenty two, so she hasn't had a four year
Olympic cycle to prepare for Paris. Took that time off
to have her first child and to rehab. Has then
(14:08):
thought I'll give the marathon a go.
Speaker 4 (14:10):
Oh my god.
Speaker 2 (14:11):
Turns out she's good, and by good, I mean very
goddamn good. In that time of adopting a new sport
that goes for forty two kilometers, she's run the third
fastest ever Australian marathon.
Speaker 1 (14:26):
Visual thirty nine k's more than she was usually doing.
Speaker 2 (14:30):
Is just such an inspiration and again is going to
her fourth Olympics, but has decided to pick up a
different and very very competitive discipline. Phenomenal, really really incredible story.
And then we get to our third qualifier.
Speaker 1 (14:45):
As we can only have three, remember because we can
only harly have three.
Speaker 2 (14:48):
Jess Stenson, who may ring a bell for the fact
that she won gold in Birmingham in the marathon.
Speaker 4 (14:54):
So she Commonwealth Games.
Speaker 2 (14:56):
She's a proven performer in the green and gold on
the big stage. She's heading to her second Olympics because
she missed out on Tokyo. Yes, because she had a
bone injury that came about after she had her first child,
which they're so incredible, I know, well more incredibly her
second child was born in September of last year. No yeah,
(15:17):
and since giving birth has then ran the time that
has qualified her in this top six that's.
Speaker 3 (15:25):
Like six months. It's actually insane. She ran the time
when a baby was six months old.
Speaker 2 (15:32):
Again, I can't begin to tell you how much as
a mum this blows, or as anyone that blows your mind.
Of the top six women that made this qualifying time,
five of them have had children.
Speaker 1 (15:42):
I just can't. I just don't understand. But Jeremy I
would assume. So if we've gone Shane Diver, she has
the fastest time right she's on the plane. Genevieve Gregson
second fastest time she's on the plane, Jessica Stenson third
fastest time she's on the butt.
Speaker 3 (15:55):
She was the fifth fastest qualified during the period.
Speaker 2 (15:59):
And this is where the drama ensues because Lisa Weightman
is one of Australia's best ever marathon runners. If selected,
she would be going to her fifth Games in track
and field, and during this period she did run the
third fastest time. So but she is not on the
(16:19):
plane to patters, she didn't receive the phone call. Yes,
and understandably so she and her camp are devastated.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
So this is a decision that is made by Athletics Australia. Yes,
when they are choosing their squad, they have to make
these tough decisions about who gets to represent them and
our country on the world's biggest stage.
Speaker 2 (16:39):
I must admit I was ignorant to the selection process
that happens in athletics. I made the massive assumption that
it's the top three times and away you go. There
is a word called discretion yes in their selection guidelines,
which is what this all hinges on. And Athletics Australia
have come back to the point where they're saying we're
using our discretion and where selecting Jess to go to
(17:02):
the Games.
Speaker 1 (17:02):
Yes, and I would assume and I think one of
the reasons that they have given themselves is that is
her history with being able to perform at big events, right,
like she has that gold medal experience.
Speaker 2 (17:13):
And also what we know about Paris is it's going
to be very hot, yes, and treacherous conditions.
Speaker 1 (17:19):
And this is why the marathon and the selection process
for this event and other events. But it can come
down to discretion because it is really difficult to try
and synchronize synchronize a selection process, right you can only
run a few marathons at your top speed through the
course of a year. The courses come into play because
(17:41):
a lot of courses are a lot flatter than others.
Speaker 4 (17:44):
Others are hillier.
Speaker 1 (17:45):
So depending on where you choose to run, that will
obviously affect your time. So among these six runners, a
lot of their times were posted at different places and
throughout different periods throughout the two years.
Speaker 2 (17:58):
Their training blocks are about thirteenek right, so you're roughly
looking at three months there lead up to each marathon,
so they probably have two, maybe three elite marathons in
them annually. So they target these particular races where they
know they're more likely to run a better time in
order to qualify. And also it's noted for marathon runners
where the prize money.
Speaker 4 (18:18):
Is So for me though, I feel that this term discretion.
Speaker 1 (18:23):
It makes sense for a lot of sports and a
lot of sporting bodies to anything with the team like this. Yeah,
so why is this case different from so many others?
Speaker 2 (18:34):
So Lisa Weightman on the fifteenth of May made an
appeal to the National Sports Tribunal and her argument was
that the nomination criteria was not properly applied and there
was no material in which Athletic Australia's decision could be
reasonably based. The NST found in favor of Lisa Weightman,
so they went away did their due diligence. In this time,
(18:55):
Lisa's got a manager and this is all getting very
muddy and very uncomfortable behind the scenes, in the fact
that AA hasn't announced that these three women have got
the ticket to Paris. While this process is going on,
AA say cool, we're sticking with our mark. The National
Sports Trust then present their findings to AA and say, look,
(19:16):
we think that you should have an independent committee to
assess this because in our findings, you know, there's an
unfair bias here. That's their recommendation, and Athletics Australia have
gone yeah nah, so we hear you no. And then
in this time, we are already in the Olympic training
block for the marathon.
Speaker 4 (19:36):
This is even happening last night.
Speaker 3 (19:38):
We are less than thirteen weeks out.
Speaker 2 (19:40):
So these women are training like they're going to Paris,
believing that they may be going to Paris, waiting for
the ticket. And the other thing is all of this
takes a lot of money. It's lawyers, it's engagement, and
we just want to highlight no one's winning here. No
poor Jess Stinson and the pressure on you receive the
call to say that you're going to an Olympics, you
(20:01):
go into Paris and perhaps you weren't expecting it, And
what a dream. I've just had a kid. This is
just my Cinderella moment and someone who I'm close to
because the athletics fraternity and especially marathon runners.
Speaker 3 (20:14):
They travel around the world together.
Speaker 1 (20:16):
Yeah, it's very very tight knit. These people are teammates. Yes,
that's an individual sport, but they are teammates, they're friends,
they've known each other for decades.
Speaker 2 (20:24):
So on Wednesday, the twenty ninth of May, five minutes
before the appeal deadline, Lisa informs Athletics Australia that she
was going to make a final appeal to the Court
of Arbitration of Sport in Switzerland.
Speaker 4 (20:38):
So she's taken it to the next level.
Speaker 2 (20:39):
Several hours later, she pulls it back and basically says,
you know what, I'm dropping this.
Speaker 3 (20:44):
I'm done here and my understanding is it came down
to cost.
Speaker 1 (20:47):
Well her official statement after she decided to drop that appeal.
What I am most disappointed about is Athletics Australia's own
internal systems and procedures that have allowed this outcome and which,
unless corrected, will negatively impact future Australian athletes and the
legitimate claims to represent Australia.
Speaker 2 (21:05):
And big names within athletics, someone like Sally Pearson who
has then gone on to have a career in media
after being an olympian herself wrote an article that went
gamebusters that started with the line I'm shocked, Lisa Weightman
is heartbroken and Athletics Australia is in crisis. She goes
on to say, I'm disappointed with the national selection panel,
(21:27):
but I'm more shocked at the integrity of Athletics Australia
and how this has become a total fast So on
the eve of an Olympics, Athletics Australia are getting whacked. Yes,
and people like you and I are shocked, going, what
do you mean? What do you mean in a time
based event.
Speaker 4 (21:45):
It's not the fastest who goes, It's not.
Speaker 3 (21:47):
The fastest, like this is brand new information.
Speaker 1 (21:50):
I also think though, that it is case in point
once again of just the reactive power of social media
one hundred percent, because this is where it started to
get really nasty. People started to see these articles from
Sally Pearson. They started to see the headlines bombshell Athletics Australia,
and they then were like, oh, hang on a second,
(22:12):
what is this. This must be an absolute outrage. What
should I be doing? Muddying this further is of course,
at its heart, these are people, the human side the.
Speaker 4 (22:21):
Emotions of this.
Speaker 1 (22:22):
I mean, there's so much you say it ecstasy, you know,
the Cinderella story, but then there's absolute heartbreak because what
you thought was going to be your dream coming to
life is not the case anymore. And we saw that
with Lisa Weightman's husband, Lachlan MacArthur weighing in on social media,
a move that he may now himself have like say.
Speaker 3 (22:41):
That he regrets.
Speaker 2 (22:42):
He deleted Twitter after making these comments, and you can
understand that emotions were very heightened, but he tweeted or xed.
It still feels weird to say that, but sure xd
Jess Trengo, which is Jess's maiden name, could you please
take down your background photo of my family? By the way,
this was after one of the seven to one all
time head to head wins by Lisa Weightman.
Speaker 1 (23:03):
So this is after Jess Stenson is selected as that
in that third spot.
Speaker 3 (23:08):
But it was yet to be announced by Athletics, yet.
Speaker 4 (23:10):
To be announced, but the actual.
Speaker 3 (23:12):
Run selection process had happened.
Speaker 1 (23:14):
Yeah, they were aware, right, Yes, so the official announcement
hasn't happened, but all the main players know what's going on, yes,
And so Lisa Weightman's husband has gone to Jess's personal account,
seen a display picture of them all celebrating looking like
happy family, and publicly tweeted and publicly tweeted take that down.
Speaker 4 (23:33):
There's a heartbroken family here.
Speaker 2 (23:34):
And we do live in a media landscape where it's
that sort of fodder that gives this stuff massive five.
Speaker 4 (23:41):
All the screenshots that came all of.
Speaker 2 (23:43):
A sudden, it goes there is disdain, there's hate, there's
drama behind the scenes.
Speaker 4 (23:49):
Do you think that that was inflated because it was women?
Speaker 1 (23:53):
I know that a man has necessarily like taken this
first blown it up, But do you think that part
of the drama that everyone then attached themselves onto when
it came to this story was because it was women,
female athletes.
Speaker 2 (24:06):
I actually had this conversation with Genevieve Gregson, who again
I had an event with her in the lead up
to this being made in a public announcement, and she
was understandably very Pg. Thirteen in her description of all
else she used to play the game.
Speaker 4 (24:21):
Still she did discretionary.
Speaker 2 (24:22):
Remember she at the time didn't tell me who the
parties were, just said, look, there is a pretty ugly
dispute happening behind the scenes, no one wants to see it,
and you know, I just feel for my community at
the moment. And I actually said to her the only
thing that I can compare it to in my life
is that I always feel like I'm pitted against other
women in media. And genuinely, I've been in meetings with
(24:46):
bosses that have said to me, you weren't the person,
but I can only give the job to you or
Georgie who's better of which I in my early twenties
had to have the grace to go that's your job,
not mine.
Speaker 3 (24:59):
I think she's one fool, and you can make your
own choice.
Speaker 2 (25:02):
But there is this idea, particularly with women, yes, that
yours has to be competition within the competition.
Speaker 4 (25:10):
Because this is a thing. It is a competition. We
all know it's a competition. It's athletices.
Speaker 3 (25:14):
We get it.
Speaker 1 (25:15):
But then you don't need to necessarily then go on
this at this extra level.
Speaker 2 (25:18):
And there must be this awful feeling in going. A
decision was made and you rightly so believe it to
be unjust because and I can see the merits of
your argument, but I got a ticket to Paris. Yeah,
ticket to Paris, and in credit to Lochlan MacArthur. Once
(25:41):
the image was taken down, he basically tweeted saying, look,
thank you to Jess for taking that down. I have
a heartbroken family here and he then deleted his account.
And you can understand from the Weightman camp perspective going,
I'm meant to be going to my fifth Games.
Speaker 1 (25:59):
Yeah, if it was me and I thought that I
had clocked that time, you know, me my magical running
world and I'm on the way to Paris and then
I'm told no, you're not. I would have I would
feel like the world had completely shifted and I'm falling, falling, falling.
Speaker 2 (26:13):
And you just feel that with her public statement, perhaps
this situation wasn't met with the empathy and the nuances
of what it was.
Speaker 4 (26:23):
Maybe transparency.
Speaker 1 (26:24):
I always feel like, I mean, we give governing bodies
a fairwack on this podcast for not being as transparent
as maybe they and I think that's the case here again,
like there has been a communication breakdown here. Jane Fleming,
who is the Athletics Australia president, said in the statement,
you know, we acknowledge the difficult task of Olympic nomination selection,
(26:45):
whether a more athletes qualified than positions available. Any allegations
that Athletics Australia or Athletics Australia's selection panel has not
acted with integrity is also defamatory and simply not true.
So she stood up for the process. But should the
selection process change?
Speaker 2 (27:03):
Well, this is where Sally Pearson at the end of
our article says, we want answers, and so are there
answers when we look around the world. Is this a
scenario that's unique to Australia or is it not? And
you've had an example that blew my mind.
Speaker 1 (27:15):
I did tell me because you may be seeing there thinking, yeah,
it's crazy, guys, this is insane.
Speaker 4 (27:21):
Be the fastest six week fly? Yeah, how do we
do this?
Speaker 1 (27:25):
But it's also not only rules for us, rules for others.
This is standard practice around the world, including in the
East African powerhouses of Ethiopia and Kenya. So Ethiopia had
ninety eight women run underneath the qualifying time of two
(27:45):
hours and twenty six minutes fifty seconds during that qualification period.
Speaker 2 (27:49):
How many women run in the they could have fielded
the entire field. Kenya had sixty six, unbelievable. So they
are also making decisions of ninety eight into three and
I tell you what for them as well, they did
not pick the three fastest times posted. There was one
in there that was in the mid fifties, like the
fifty fifth time, fastest time she is on the way
(28:10):
because they thought you are a big event athlete, you
have the experience to back it up.
Speaker 4 (28:15):
I am picking you.
Speaker 2 (28:16):
The fifty fifth fastest qualifying time in the Olympic qualifying
period is going to Paris.
Speaker 1 (28:22):
I think so yeah, because they're also fast ninety eight
ninety eight underneath the qualification time. So these decisions are
happening around the world. Discretion is applied across the board.
Speaker 2 (28:33):
And now we do have someone like Tamsa Manu, who's
so entrenched in athletics in Australia, to give her two
cents about what's happened here.
Speaker 3 (28:42):
But also what could be a potential solution. So let's
have a listener to Tamson.
Speaker 6 (28:47):
You can see why she's disappointed. And there's a lot
of emotion around this selection. But unless you make it
really clear cut and you say in the selection criteria, right,
we are picking the top three times. And again that's
hard too because marathon you have to target that race
and I know that the USA has a marathon championship
trials because of that, so they take out the gray
(29:07):
area in the selection and the first three across the
line in those marathon Championship trials get selected, and the
fourth person is the alternate, and so on. So I
hope what Australian Athletics does is we do what the
American team does, and we do name an alternate.
Speaker 3 (29:22):
I wonder how Lisa would feel about getting on the
plane as a sub.
Speaker 4 (29:26):
Oh, do you know what I think? At least you'd
be on the plane. Do you know what I mean?
Anything could happen, Anything could happen. Injuries happen all the time.
Speaker 3 (29:31):
I mean.
Speaker 2 (29:32):
And also the argument there, and it's a fair one
where Jamson's like had one race the first three to
get across the line. There you go, let's solve this.
It's what happens in America. That's great. This whole scenario
just doesn't pass the pub test. There are no winners,
it seems, on either side. But what we will be
doing is getting our green and gold on and cheering
(29:53):
the hell out of the three athletes that have qualified.
Oh yes, and hopefully from this point on can just
celebrate them and their achievements. Because the women that are
on the plane haven't done anything wrong.
Speaker 3 (30:18):
Georgie, it's time for fun fact. Yes, it's time for
a fun fact. And they're featured.
Speaker 2 (30:23):
In our Bad Sports because we love when tennis players
have an absolute spat and for whatever reason, maybe it's
just because they're in France, they get angry at the moment,
don't they get passionate.
Speaker 3 (30:34):
Here's some fun.
Speaker 2 (30:35):
Facts, but also a good news story. And that mister
Gucci Yannick Sinner. You know that he's like he uses
a Gucci bag.
Speaker 4 (30:43):
Oh yes, I do. I thought you met.
Speaker 1 (30:44):
He was like some unknown Aircci thrown.
Speaker 3 (30:48):
I was like or a player Gucci. I was running
number one thousand in the world.
Speaker 4 (30:52):
I was like the one who the fans dresses carrots for.
Speaker 2 (30:55):
He's a Gucci No you remember him of course as
the winner of the Australian Open.
Speaker 3 (31:00):
He is the first ever Italian number one.
Speaker 4 (31:04):
Love it, I love it.
Speaker 3 (31:05):
Good on him.
Speaker 1 (31:05):
We'll staying with tennis because I wanted to bring a
fun fact jemy in relation to the courts that they
play on French Open synonymous with a clay court, right, yes,
and as we know.
Speaker 4 (31:18):
Play again, we can't get the violins out. I'm not
doing it. I refuse.
Speaker 1 (31:25):
But as we now know it Roland Garross. Of course
it's famous for its red clay. But terra cotta, if
you will, terra cotta. I love that that is the
correct shade. But Jemmy, did you know that clay court's
not always terra cotta.
Speaker 3 (31:38):
But that's the color of clay. Ha ha ha.
Speaker 1 (31:40):
It would appear, yes, except if you're at the Madrid
Open in twenty twelve. There the clay was blue. They
used blue clay.
Speaker 3 (31:48):
So like our hard.
Speaker 2 (31:49):
Courts, say Australia called and wants it's hard court color back,
we are the sky blue.
Speaker 1 (31:55):
Well this is why because apparently the billionaire owner of
the tournament Indrid, wanted the courts to be blue because
they had become so popular in hard court use, right yep.
So they were like, yeah, let's just just just make
this clay court, let's just make that blue. However, it
resulted in a more slippery surface because they've got paint
(32:17):
in the clay, because it's usually like crushed up brick, right,
like it's genuinely terra cotta.
Speaker 4 (32:22):
Yeah, genuinely.
Speaker 3 (32:22):
Yeah.
Speaker 1 (32:23):
Yeah, So they've actually somehow by making it blue, they've
changed the complete fabric of it and it meant a
slippery surface, and the play.
Speaker 3 (32:31):
Is hated it.
Speaker 2 (32:32):
Well, they already slide around so much in regular clay,
so it was more slippery.
Speaker 3 (32:37):
And that's the thing, Like, there's so many nuances.
Speaker 2 (32:40):
To what exact balls they use and why some players
excelling clay and others are more for grass courts. So
there's so many differences to these different surfaces, even though
they're all Grand slams. Yeah, and if you mess with
the clay, particularly the Spaniards, they're not going to be happy.
Speaker 1 (32:55):
Can you guess one of the players that was particularly
put out? Think about a player who's not necessarily adverse
to being a little bit vocal slides around a lot
like Nova would.
Speaker 3 (33:08):
Have thrown his toys. I'm you dould have thrown his
toys so far out of the cot.
Speaker 4 (33:14):
He was mad. He was mad.
Speaker 2 (33:16):
Shortstone split on the rig is stunning how white sides.
Speaker 1 (33:21):
The man lives in a split, lives in a split,
and so for him, he got knocked out.
Speaker 4 (33:27):
So he was like, oh.
Speaker 3 (33:28):
It must be the court.
Speaker 4 (33:29):
It's the court, it's the court. This blue clay, I
think not.
Speaker 1 (33:33):
I think not, and therefore after that the ATP banded
blue Clay was never.
Speaker 3 (33:36):
Used to Thank you so much for joining us on
Too Good Sports. Please leave us a review.
Speaker 2 (33:40):
They're very helpful, and remember to subscribe and check us
out on social media as well at two Good Sports Podcasts. Georgie,
I know that you need therapy after Origin, so I hope,
I hope you have a strong week and that people
check in on their Origin loving friends.
Speaker 4 (33:56):
Thank you so much, and let's call a sendoff.
Speaker 3 (33:59):
Be a good sport
Speaker 1 (34:08):
Before
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