pretty likely. At 24th, i'll bet in the next few weeks.

I think this year, I got a sprint spot in april , so it can also go way late.

pretty d*$med good bike ride. spend the winter running. you'll be right there.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Thank you very much Slowman. I am working on it. It just seems to take so much longer to make gains on running compared to biking.

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https://www.strava.com/athletes/23685202

Says on the site you have to be there in person for Oly but not clear on Sprint. Do you really have to be there? Seems better to let peeps have a few days to decide rather than on the spot and plus some people have to leave town and doesn't seem right they would have to forfeit their slot to someone they beat.

Good post; I’m interested in racing Olympic at Nats next year and am also trying to figure out how the allocation works. Do spots typically roll down to 30, or is it all about the top 18 in each AG?

I’ll age up to 50-54, which looks blazing fast. Hopefully, the short swim skewed the results in favor of the runners. Regardless, gotta work on my run for a shot at top 30 and 18 may be out of reach.

Scott

I was informed by my coach that spots typically roll past 30 for the Olympic, and past 18 for the sprint.

Anyone know if they post the aged up results anywhere other than at the awards ceremony?

we're moving our 100/100 challenge up a month, starting nov 15th. i recommend considering doing that. you've got a solid swim/bike, and the bike is more than solid. what i recommend this winter is you become a runner. in your head. adopt the culture of running. same thing i say to those who bike/run and can't swim. adopt the culture of swimming. be a swimmer. each sport has its culture, its milieu.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

Huh? Unless they changed it from last year, it only rolls down to 30 and there some dependence on the DL nationals for the exact number of slots available at NDL nationals. I could be mis-remembering though.

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Strava

Isn't the top 8 for Sprint AG, and another 10 spots available later in the year in Tempe during the draft-legal nationals?

That’s my interpretation of USAT’s policy:

“After applying the age-up rule, the top 18 in each age group, rolling down to 30th place will qualify for the World Championship”

However, I have no knowledge of how it works in practice. I’d appreciate any insights. How does it work?

Scott

Source: https://www.teamusa.org/...tional-Championships

Top 18 for Olympic nationals had chance to claim their slot at the awards ceremony. After that, they’ll start emailing people farther down the list to see if they want to accept a roll down (if a slot is available). That’ll take weeks to months. If you placed top 30, best you can do is wait for an email. Make sure your email on your USAT account or the nationals race registration is correct.

I mean my coach works for USAT and actually has raced nationals and worlds in the past so I trust what he said 100%. He told me that the sprint typically rolls into the 20s, and the OLY occasionally rolls past 30. USAT wants to make sure that the age groups are full with the max number of USA athletes possible, so if people don't want spots, they keep going down the line. They don't advertise that though, obviously.

What USAT says is 8 spots from sprint nationals today, so if the top 8 claim theirs at the awards ceremony, there are no roll down spots. Then, in November, at DL nationals the top 10 automatically qualify, and it does NOT roll down, because by then they will have figured out how many slots will have been taken from the sprint nationals list.

Then they should really change the rule and remove the limit. It would increase attendance at Nationals even more with people chasing a roll down.

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Strava

I got 20th in M30-34 so I'm hoping for a rolldown too!! Same issues. Great swim, great bike, okay run. haha

Rolldown is significantly impacted by the location of Worlds... If it's cheaper to travel to, or more desirable to travel to, there tends to be less rolldown... I suspect Rolldown for next year's Grand Final may be less, given that Worlds are in Edmonton, which is more accessible from the US (I won't comment on the desirability as a travel destination...).

Does anybody else remembering reading something about athletes only being able to do one event in Canada, because of the formatting of the race? If so, that could affect roll down spots since most of the top finishers in both races are the same people.

Yes... You can only do 1 in canada.
Olynpic rolldown should start ASAP.
Sprint roll down wont start until after the fall when Draft Legal Nationals happen

Apparently...

In the Oly I was 19th after age-up so I went to roll down expecting it to be like IM rolldowns. It was not. As #19, I was instructed to go downstairs and declare my intent to race, meaning that if someone in the Top 18 passed (which there were already 2 who did by not showing for awards), I would get the spot.

The next day I was #7 for the sprint but because we had to drive from Cleveland to Philly after racing, I did not stick around for awards, so presumably that means my spot for that distance rolled? One girl I ran with for a bit said she was thankful she didn't have to push it at the sprint distance b/c she already got a spot the day before, but it would have significantly impacted her travel plans to stick around.

This is such a strange and seemingly ever-evolving process. I had really hoped to race in Switzerland this year, but could not attend Nationals in Cleveland. It was stated that there would be two spots that would roll through the Top 20 AG based on year end-rankings. As #17, I had been hopeful that I would snag a spot that way, but it was never offered even after inquiring. A friend however who was outside of the Top 25 was ultimately offered one at the very last minute.

Full disclosure - I'm a Team USA Ambassador and the woman in charge of the program has recently left USAT. I've got a few emails out to get some clarification. I'll update if I hear anything.

I'd say 100% you'll get a slot. When I couldn't say, but they tend to roll all the way down eventually. I don't think any of the AGs fill to capacity.

I made it for the Olympic this year and would have for the Sprint... didn't podium and wanted to get out of town. I gather you can't do both in Canada(from reading this thread), so glad I didn't go to awards.

Then what's the point of the qualificstion requirement?! It might as well not be there and just do the roll down how Ironman does. For the sprint, just set a certain number for the NDL and DL races and roll down respectively. If people outside of the top 30 are getting spots, the whole process is BS.

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Strava

They don't roll past that window, which currently is 30 for the Oly... you still have to be reasonably close and wait until people in front of you either take or don't take their slots. The top 18 can claim their spot at awards... 19-30 have to wait for people to pass/not take their slots.

What I meant by the AGs don't fill.. I think in my AG last year @ ITU Worlds in Gold Coast there were like 9 in the Oly and 12 in the Sprint.

Sorry completely mis-replied. Was more of commenting on aforsythe's comment about how his friend, who was outside of the qualifying range, got a slot.

I understand not giving all the slots away if people don't want them (USAT only wants to field the best racers possible). Though, are all the fees paid by athletes to attend worlds directly associated with the event, or do some go to funding elites and other USAT programs? If the latter, I would think they would want to get as many people to Worlds as possible.

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Strava

That actually can backfire... Tri Canada for a few years, had "open registration" where anyone could buy unclaimed spots after qualification (the peak was Penticton Multisport worlds)... They certainly got massive numbers, but it put pressure on kit providers, support staff, ability for people to book at the "team hotel", etc. and they got blasted on the year end survey from athletes, because in general the athlete experience was shite (I say in general, because some of us had a great time, other than Project-gate (enjoy your kit sponsor Tri-Australia, they come pre-worn out... no break in required...), but that was because it was not our first time, so we knew enough folks on the team that we set up our own social activities, shared information, etc. so that it still felt like a team... The reps that they had there were great when you could track them down... but there were too many athletes for them to effectively coordinate, without extra bodies...)... The result of that was a series of overhauls to the qualification processes which are still settling (more excellence focused, in the sense that initially they canned open reg, held limited charity spots, and did away with any roll-down, so it was Auto-qualify, or charity spot if you wanted in, otherwise you had to race open wave... The system changed again this year to an expression of interest type system, and limited roll-down, which i think is getting close to the sweetspot in terms of balancing competitiveness and a decent team size...)...