Posted: July 9, 2004

Athletics: Sullivan’s Unexpected Olympic Qualifying Odyssey To End This Weekend

From David Monti with Tim O'Dowd

(c) 2004 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Bob Ramsak

Late hour rule changes to the qualifying criteria by the Canadian Olympic Committee (COC) forced a drastic mid-season change for miler Kevin Sullivan, leaving the 2000 Olympic finalist scrambling for qualifying performances after he had already planned his Olympic campaign preparation.

“There were two ways to qualify in the 1500m for the Canadian Olympic team,” Sullivan wrote in an email to RRW editor and publisher David Monti. “I could run two 'A' standard performances in 2003 or one 'A' standard performance in 2004.” Additionally, Sullivan needed a ‘B’ standard performance between May 1 and July 11, 2004 to prove “competitive readiness.”

When Sullivan mapped out his 2004 training and race schedule last fall, he was under the impression that his 3:34.60 from the adidas Oregon Track Classic and his 3:53.34 clocking in the Prefontaine Classic mile would meet the Canadian Olympic Committee’s ‘A’ standard criteria, leaving only a late spring or early summer chase for the ‘B’ “readiness” standard.

“Back in November, a draft of the selection criteria was posted on the Athletics Canada (AC) website,” Sullivan, who finished fifth in the 2000 Olympics, continued. “This still needed to be officially signed off by the COC but we were told that the COC agreed in principle to the selection criteria established by Athletics Canada.”

That draft criteria stated that a mile equivalent, based upon IAAF performance tables, would be accepted for the second 2003 'A' standard. His Prefontaine performance was just under the 3:53.35 conversion.

But a late hour change in the rules forced Sullivan, at the time in heavy training, to chase yet another ‘A’ standard.

“In March and April of this year I contacted AC to double check that my 3:53 from Pre did convert to the 'A' standard,” he wrote. “That was when I was told that the COC had changed their policy on mile equivalent and would not be accepting my time from last year.”

Athletics Canada appealed twice on Sullivan’s behalf to the COC to accept the 2003 mile performance. “The first response was that [the COC] understood that my season was already set up and that there were not a lot of 1500m races in North America, but nonetheless they would not change their position. The second appeal to COC did not even get a response.”

At the time, Sullivan had only one 1500m race on his schedule, and with most major North American meets only hosting the mile --a distance acceptable only for the ‘B’ standard-- he was forced to dramatically alter his training schedule to compete in high level races in Europe.

“So I had to change my season around,” Sullivan wrote, “so that I could head to Europe in order to guarantee that I would get my required 'A' and 'B' standards for this year.”

Sullivan achieved the ‘A’ standard with his 3:35.93 runner-up finish in Portland adidas Oregon Track Classic, but didn’t achieve the ‘B’ standard until his 3:36.72 runner-up finish at the Norwich Union British Grand Prix in Gateshead, GBR on June 27. Last Friday in Rome, Sullivan posted a 3:34.43 seasonal best.

“So at this time,” Sullivan wrote, “I am fully qualified for the Olympic Team, provided I finish in the top 4 at the Canadian Championships this weekend.”

Sullivan notes that with the qualifying window ending on Sunday, the COC has still not posted the official selection criteria on its website.