In an earlier post I discussed USATF’s qualifying procedure change that means marks from high school and college meets not on the World Athletics Calendar no longer count for qualifying for the Olympic Trials.
Disclaimer: I do not know which athletes would have chosen to compete at the Olympic Trials had their marks counted. It costs money to enter the meet, many athletes chose not to flush that money down the drain, knowing their marks would not be accepted. This article is about who had the choice taken away from them.
Men’s Triple Jump
The top 2/3 of the men’s triple jump was pretty straightforward.
Micaylon Moore of Nebraska and James Carter, a post-collegiate athlete, both had marks from Iowa that did not count, but were able to get in with their next best marks.
The bottom portion of the field was more complicated because so many eligible athletes did not enter.
The two athletes who had marks ineligible high enough to get in were Mitchell Effing from NAU who had a 16.02 from NAU that did not count and Niejel Wilkins from Appalachian State who had a 15.75 from Appalachian State that did not count. Both athletes’ best counting marks were not high enough to get in.
In 2021 there was no minimum entry standard to get in and 14.70 was the lowest mark accepted, in 2024 15.76 was the lowest mark accepted.
Women’s Triple Jump
The women’s triple jump was similarly unaffected for the top half of the field.
The bottom portion of the field is where things got interesting…
The target field size for this event is 24. They dipped below this to pick up Amy Warren and Victoria Kadiri.
Victoria Kadiri competes for Johns Hopkins, she had a 13.43 at Bucknell that did not count.
I have no inside information as to why the field was expanded beyond the target size, but this is generally done if there are extenuating circumstances around a mark, either with one of these marks or a mark above them on the list.
Other athletes who might have made it in under the old system (assuming the same athletes scratched) are Michelle Fokam, a post-collegiate athlete who jumped 13.39 at Houston, Taylor Nelloms of Pittsburg St who jumped 13.11 at Pittsburg St, and Gabrielle Pierre, a high school senior from MA who jumped 13.11 at her state meet.
In 2021 the lowest mark accepted was 13.00 and in 2024 it was 13.04 with an expanded field of 26. If the old qualifying system had been used this year, 13.12 would have been the cutoff for 24th and 13.11 if expanded to 26.