John Steffensen has a point

Jocelyn, I totally agree that AA is shooting itself in the foot in relation to its selection policies. But I have two questions for you: 1 - Half of this article and the following comments have been about racism in AA and yet no one has given any actual examples. If John has ever been overlooked for anything because of race then I will be appalled and the offending officials should be publicly outed and condemned but at the moment either yourself or John seem willing to give an example of this despite that what you "love about this blog is that everyone is entitled to their opinion". 2 - Based on form of the 6 athletes in the relay squad (and specifically thinking of the 4 athletes who ran in Daegu who I am told all split sub 46) do you actually think John will get a run in the relay in any event?

Firstly, I think playing the racism card is really clutching at straws and quite frankly is very frustrating. And, these people writing posts saying it is obviously racism and good on John for standing up for himself.....you are kidding yourselves. Every country has it's racial minority groups but please don't accuse all Australians as being racist. As for the selection policy....if there is no chance of getting into the team without posting an A qualifier then what's the point of having a B qualifier. Melissa Breen was 2/100th from an A qualifying time, so why does she get in. I think the Rio clause is a really good one. If these young up and coming athletes show real potential, with a real opportunity to do well and potentially medal in Rio then as B qualifiers, why not give them experience in competing in London. Solomon is running really well, so close to an A qualifier, he's young with years of improvement, let him go. Steffensen is coming back from injury, 30 years old and currently not as fast as Solomon....Steffensen can be proud of running the relay. On a side note, Steffensen should take leaf out of Sally Pearsons book, you never see her dance around, making silly comments after a race. She, like Cathy Freeman (don't want to be considered racist), never whinged or moaned, they got on with the job and performed. John Steffensen although a good 400m runner, really, on a world stage, has done nothing that comes close to what those two girls have achieved. Just my opinion....

Yes, Tim's point makes a lot more sense than your s doesJocelyn. Enjoy your 'white guilt' that is evident that you are suffering from.

Jocelyn, you've repeatedly tried to claim that Steffenson is speaking on behalf of his teammates, and that it's not just all about him, including suggesting there was some editing of his TV interview to give that impression. Unfortunately, he made a mockery of that defence when he played the race card - because of the 3 runners who missed out on the individual run, guess how many are not white? Once he made the "racist" claims, he showed this latest dummy spit was about himself only.

Settle down Glen.it's not David that has called you names. I can guarantee you that if there is any favouritism in this case, it is to do with a personality clash rather than racism. Remember that Steffenson had been selected in many previous national teams, so he has not been systematically discriminated against. Mate our most famous recent ahtlete is Cathy Freeman, so I'm not sure AA or the Australian public can be accused of systematic racism over this case. There may be other facts that change this view, but they are not in this article. This seems to me to be similar, but not even as difficult as the decision for Triathlon Australia with Emma Snowsill the defending champion missing out to a young up and comer who had better results. Difficult and feeling bad for Emma? Absolutely. But in these types of decisions someone is always unlucky. And Glen, try not to call the whole country racist. It's simply not true. Qld's favourite son is Artie Beetson. And Big Mal is pretty loved as well. Sure there are racist people, and maybe plenty of them. But it's not the whole country. And I bet there are plenty of idots and saints on both sides of the "racial divide". I've been called "four eyes" plenty of times, but I've managed to steer away from declaring the entire country as discriminating against my poor eyesight.

The fact that he tore his hamstring in Australias richest sprint race....which has no Olympic selection value....in an Olympic year says something to me - but maybe that's just me. Jocelyn, in your own words, with reference to Jon Stefenson - "And yes since March his times has slowed, Yours would have too if you tore your hamstring 20 metres from winning the Stawell Gift!. He is lucky to be running at all at this time." So he's 30, he's still not necessarily fully recovered from an injury sustained 3 months ago, and has been running slower times than an in-form, up-and-coming 19yr old who he happened to beat once 4 months ago, but in doing so still failed to post an A-qualifier time. Said up-and-coming 19yr old has also posted a faster time than Steffenson this year, even before he was injured. Yet he thinks AA is racist for not selecting him to run the individual 400m as well as the relay, when it's not even guaranteed he'll make it through the one race. To say that Steffenson was running faster times than Solomon at his age means nothing. Arguing that Jon hasnt returned to his previous good form in 2006 "but he's been injured" also means nothing - if anything it strengthens the argument that he has a history of injury, and going with the younger runner may be a better option. Add to that the unlikelihood of him remaining at top level beyond these Olympics, and I would have thought selecting the younger runner to help further his development is a no-brainer. If Steffenson's feet could keep up with his mouth, he wouldnt have a problem. He's had his chances to prove himself as elite at an international level, he hasnt, and AA has chosen to move on and start to give those chances to a developing runner who might.

The only way you could answer the question truly Jocelyn is if you had all the facts. It doesn't matter if you are black or white, none of us have all the facts so this is all just opinion. It's clear from your responses that you intended for this to be turned into a racial issue. You're not being reasonable. You're not being objective. One of your friends needs to tell you to pull your head in.

Hi Jocelyn, I don't think John was going to win the final despite a great semi - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6UenqbYqfuo I understand your articles views and think the selection in place is black and white, but the communication towards athletes and coaches needs improving.. I am sure AA are endeavouring to do their best, but our best is never enough with so many people to please. An athletes association would be beneficial sure, as the Rio criteria that places Steffensen as the second option in this instance due to Solomons potential would be further understood. This is an individual sport and perhaps some case studies to sports who also have trials so far away from an Olympics event would be good. The American trials simply occur at a better part of the year for Olympic selection - Ours in March is not great timing, but a follow on from our domestic season and will always create a stir and unfortunately. We will probably all be laughing when young Solomon breaks the National record in the future but in the meantime communication between AA and AOC is obviously the main issue here and John, Tamsyn, Lachlan etc all need the respect they deserve. Thanks for your passion and lets hope John can get back to his 06 form before he hangs up the spikes as he deserves that much.

Been away, but here are some salient points. 1. A few of them met the B standard, which means only one of them can get an individual birth. 2. If the relay team is going anyway, then you may as well let one of them have the sole individual birth. 3. Steffenson won the selection trial and won all the Aussie races before that. 4. Solomon at that time was still coming back from injury and improving rapidly. 5. A month later Solomon won nationals, as he did the year before as a 17yo. Jocelyn, I don't remember Steffenson ever doing that. 6. Steffenson got injured in April. 7. Solomon recently (last week) won a bronze at the world juniors, with the gold medal winner a quality athlete who wins international meets and runs mid-44s. 9. Solomon is 19, Steffenson is about 30 I believe. 10. Solomon is hitghly intelligent and well-respected, even captaining the world junior team (U20s) on his first trip aged 17. Love him or hate him, Steffenson is known to have a big mouth and is flamboyant, and turned many (including me) off with the allegations of racism. That's nuts. No, I don't think this should have any impact on the selection, but it may if they can't otherwise be split. Steffenson won the selection trial, but Solomon was coming back from injury and has done more since, including running a faster time this year. Honestly, the selection could have gone either way, and you can't really criticise AA for going for the up-and-comer with better recent form. Having said that, they do need more concrete selection policies. We're always a bit hamstrung by having our season 6 months out from the European one, so for example I have no problem giving automatic selection to someone who was top 10 at the previous year's world champs and has an A qualifier. You have to respect the top athletes and not make them peak too often.

http://www.thepunch.com.au/articles/put-a-sock-in-it-steffensen-and-start-acting-like-a-man/ Ant Sharwood makes some pretty good arguments.

I think steffenson is a joke of an athlete he is really becoming an embarrassment to Australia, fact is he's returning from injury he's 30 years old, he boycotted the 2010 commonwealth games which says alot for his pride in representing Australia, so now we have a young fresh athlete in Solomon I can't see how steffenson thinks he has been hard done by we simply don't want him

To be fair, Tim's point looks pretty cast iron at the 'So, do you choose an improving junior with a lot of potential, or a 30 year old....?' point: you don't even need the rest: it's relevant, but secondary: I don't think he was saying it should be a personality contest. There are a lot of points being bandied about RE race and personality here, as if they are the be all and end all of the matter, but even assuming bad faith on the part of the selectors, they would deny Steffenson for Solomon before they even got to race or personality. If Solomon doesn't do so well this time, he will at least gain experience that may help in the future international events, and he may be of use to selectors in years to come. No such advantage with Steffenson. Let me put it another way: how many people out there think Steffenson is an objectively better bet than the younger, fitter man, and he was denied, as he seems to insinuate, due to his race alone?

Its a disgrace to be pulling out the race card at every turn. Why not make it about the selection process instead of saying, o lets throw in the race card. Get over yourself, noone cares what background or colour you are. He was injured, and was underperforming. Solomon's times has been better than Johns, as you have said yourself. Hes been injured, chances are he won't perform at his peak. THATS why he wasn't selected.

Jocelyn, my friend. I am of a certain ethnicity that experiences its own brand of racism. I have dealt with slurs, snide remarks, and innuendo all my life. But I refuse to be bound by them. I combat any negative stereotypes by being a nice person. Even if it's a transaction down at the deli, I will always try my best to be a nice person. My parents are proud of my attitude and wish all younger people could just act like human beings. Some of my best, Aussie, friends have said that they don't even think of my ethnicity when I'm with them. They just consider me a nice bloke and wonder why other people can't just get over the colour of their skin. Sure, I'm not Aboriginal or Black African, but they are also not of my background. So what I'm saying is, racism exists in many forms, but by becoming combative and reactive about it will not get you anywhere. Be damn proud of your heritage, but don't forget that you can still be nice to other people. As my people say, you catch more flies with honey than you do with vinegar.

Where Steffensen completely lost me was when he played the race card. It came across as someone that had a huge chip on their shoulder and simply had an axe to grind. Probably on a personal level with someone in AA itself. For a 30 year old, he clearly has a lot of growing up to do. In terms of the decision itself, the problem appears to be AAs own policies. It should have been made crystal clear that a B qualifier may be accepted in specific circumstances such as the development of a young athlete where it is likely they will be in contention for the 2016 Olympics. Clearly Solomon would benefit from the experience, which is why he's been selected. Steffensen is unlikely to be in contention in 2016, and in any case was never going to be picked anyway. He may have had a valid gripe if he was bumped, but he wasn't. Does he lose anything from Solomon competing? No. If anything he may gain from it, as it could improve Solomon's performance in the relay. But I get the idea that Steffensen isn't exactly a model team player.