PARIS — Earlier this week at Stade de France, those watching the first round of the men’s 110m hurdles were treated to a bizarre spectacle: American Freddie Crittenden appeared to jog through the hurdles, finishing more than five seconds behind the leader — an eternity in an event that typically takes just 13 seconds.
Fans may have thought it strange, but for Crittenden it was a strategic move made possible because of new rules outlining how athletes in individual sprint events can qualify for the semi finals.
“I didn’t run hard because I had some aggravation yesterday in my adductor (muscle). There’s some activation that didn’t work and that’s caused pain and discomfort,” he told reporters after his race. “The plan was to use the repechage to get through the rounds.”
The repechage is a bit of new vocabulary for track fans at these Games and applies to individual events from the 200m to 1500m plus hurdle events of all distances.
Previously, athletes in these events could qualify for the semi-finals in one of two ways: placing high enough in their heat (designated by a capital Q on the scoreboard) or having the fastest times among non-qualifiers (a little q).
In Paris, there aren’t many little-q qualification spots for athletes to get to the semis in races where repechage rounds have been added.
In non-hurdle events, those who finish in the top of their heat advance and everyone else runs in the repechage, with the top finishers there rounding out the semis. In the hurdles, there are a small number of small-q spots in addition to a repechage. The exact number of top qualifiers from heats and repechage rounds depends on how many heats there are. For instance, the first six finishers in each of three 1500m heats advance to the semis in these Games while the first three finishers in each of six 800m rounds get a big Q next to their names.
World Athletics President Sebastian Coe has said the repechage was introduced to make progression in events more straightforward and to build anticipation for fans and broadcasters. “The repechage rounds will give more exposure to our sport during the peak Olympic period and will be carefully scheduled to ensure that every event on our Olympic programme retains its share of the spotlight,” he said.
The repechage can be a lifeline for athletes like Crittenden who go into the first round of competition hampered by illness or injury. And if there had been a repechage in the 5,000m, Canada’s Mohammed Ahmed might have had a chance to make the final after falling in a crowded race during the qualifying round.
“I’m happy to have a second chance,” Saskatoon’s Michelle Harrison said Wednesday after finishing last in her heat of the 100m hurdles. “I’m just coming off the stomach flu so I think another day will help trying to regain my nervous system and my strength. That was very apparently missing today.”
But not all athletes are as fond of the repechage as Harrison and Crittendon. Christopher Morales-Williams of Vaughan, Ont. said he made sure to finish top-three in the first round of the men’s 400m to avoid the repechage the next day.
“I was just in myself, I kind of dug deep. I was like, nah, I’m not getting out this round. I don’t want to go. I don’t want to run that junky round tomorrow. You know what I mean?”
Sprinter Aaron Brown of Toronto had one of the fastest non-qualifying times in the 200m heats and, had this been the 2020 Tokyo Games, he would have automatically moved through to the semi finals. Instead, he had to race in the repechage the next day to secure his spot.
“It’s great drama for TV so if I’m talking from business point Aaron Brown, it’s a fantastic idea,” he said of the repechage. “From athlete Aaron Brown it’s awful because now I’ve gotta extra run in my legs.”
Brown got through to the semis with that extra run in his legs, but other athletes haven’t been so lucky. For Lucia Stafford, the new race format means she won’t race in the women’s 1,500m semis on Thursday. The Toronto mid-distance runner clocked one of the fastest non-qualifying times in the first round, then ran the repechage the following day and failed to advance.
“It’s hard for me to say I love them right now,” she said of the repechage rounds after failing to secure an automatic berth to the semis. “But, yeah, I don’t know. I mean, it’s nice that people get another chance to come out here and represent their country.”
As for Crittenden? He won his repechage heat and finished second in his heat at Wednesday’s semi-finals — earning him that coveted big Q and a spot in the final.
With files from Dan Barnes