We need to change this in the Olympics! (Qualifying)

The 2024 Olympic Games are almost upon us

But first …a quick time out.

A comment here, with reader permission of course, on what we have witnessed the past two weeks regarding the competition to see which individuals will qualify and represent the good ole’ U.S. of A in the upcoming games.

My question/comment/criticism posed here is thus: Is this really the best way to accurately select how our team (or any team for that matter) is chosen?

The problem, in my eyes, is the overemphasis on this one single time trial, on this one particular day, one particular race—which then completely decides, and I might add with brutal finality, who makes the team and who doesn’t. Is this really the best way to pick which athletes will represent us?

Here is the problem as I see it. Shouldn’t the goal be to send our very best? Shouldn’t that be our ultimate criteria?  Shouldn’t we be sending the athletes who have proven over a long period of time their excellence? Those are the truly deserving ones, not I would argue just the ones who perform the best on this one particular qualifying day.

For example, the track runner who has dominated competition for two years but stumbles and falls during qualifying. He’s done. Not on the team. Same with the swimmer who has maybe proven herself best for years but has an off day and finishes fourth in her race. Too bad, say the current rules—she is not on the team.

That just makes no sense to me.

Ditto for the long jumper who maybe is nursing a slight hamstring pull, or even the boxer who, say, has gone a dominating 14-0 in their weight class over the past couple years, but this one fight he takes a surprise punch and can’t recover, thus losing the fight. So... this previously dominant boxer is now off the team?

What about the brilliant gymnast, clearly the best in class—who has proven it for the past three years but unfortunately slips on one day of qualifying. So now she is out? Off the team?

To me, if we want to send our absolute best, we should judge more on the full body of work—not just two days of qualifying competition. These athletes, for all their hard work, all their efforts and all their dominance in recent years showing a clear superior skill level, deserve the chance to represent us even if they have one bad day during the qualifying trials.

It all just seems grossly unfair. I know it has been the tradition for many years, and that is the way  "it has always been done", but it is one "tradition” that in my not-so-humble opinion, you could blow up never to be seen again.

Your thoughts?