[Oceania Olympic Qualifying 2012] Making the New Zealand team... and pulling out...:(

[sarahherlee]

Thanks for the comments ttmonster, WiWa and azlan.

The Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament is on right now and congrats to William Henzell (Aus) and Jian Fan Lay (Aus) who both qualified on the first day. However, if they were representing New Zealand, they wouldn't be going to the Olympics, even though they qualified 1st and is both respectfully ranked around 100 in the world.

When I mentioned the Badminton player who funded her way - it meant that, through-out her playing career - her training and competition have been self-funded , (compared to other sports like rowing or cycling who recieves a lot of funding,) but she still managed to climb up to world ranking (around 50s) - so she has qualified for the Olympics through direct world ranking without the financial assistance from NZOC, but also faces the top 16 criteria. I don't know any other country that has this kind of standard. And I'm unsure about self-funded trip to the Olympics.

And yes TTNZ has put our case forward but there are many other sports in NZ which faces the same situation as us, like tennis and badminton. But for other sports - like soccer , which NZ sent a team in 2008, the NZ soccer team's world ranking would not be top 16, or top 8 but at the Olympics the competition had 16 teams in total (men) and 12 teams (women) competing.

Very sad to hear this sarah ! I am sure there are plenty of other countries out there who would love to have you on their national teams for the olympics. There is no excuse for what the NZOC is doing. Like Carl said , even if it was the matter of budget it could have been understood, but if an athelete qualifies and has a sponsor ready then who is the Olympic commitee.
Only thing we can say is don't ever lose hope, and treat this like one of the many challenges I am sure you would have overcome by now to reach where you already are.
BTW wonderful post Carl, I am sure it will inspire Sarah and everybody else who reads it .

I feel sorry for you Sarah. The only thing that would justify such criteria would be an EXTREMELY (and I mean, EXTREMELY) low budget, but I can't imagine their budget is that low. How many athletes will represent NZ at the Olympics? Just the rugby team? NZ should be proud to have you and the other athletes capable of qualifying represent them at the Olympics. Really a shame

I just think that the selection criteria does not fit the Olympics spirit of the games. What I don't understand is why they have different formats for different racquet games. The tennis format works, so why can't they implement the same selection criteria to other racquet sports?
The TTNZ by right should represent the players, and they should go all out getting their players to qualify and play in the Olympics. Players pay all sort of fees to get themselves registered in these organizations, so it is only right if they bring the matter to the top level of the county's Olympics committee, in this case NZOC.

I'm sorry to hear about the news Sarah, especially when I thought that I was definitely will be seeing you at the Olympics. IOC should make sure that most countries should be able to participate in any sporting events by limiting the number of players. It's the spirit of the game. Even Jamaica managed to send a Bobsleigh team in the 1988 winter olympics.

 

[sarahherlee]

Hi Carl Horowitz

thanks heaps for the comment and inspiring videos! I have enjoyed reading them and you have asked some thoughtful questions. I don't know other countries who have restrictions like this, but there may be another country... I still love table tennis because its such a beautiful sport, but it is difficult to stay motivated, by actually qualifying for the Olympic Games through the IOC and ITTF rules is the most that an athlete can do, but when there is another set of criteria set on you but not athletes from other countries, it is hard to understand. For example, the Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament is on right now and congrats to William Henzell (Aus) and Jian Fan Lay (Aus) who both qualified on the first day. However, if they were representing New Zealand, they wouldn't be going to the Olympics, even though they qualified 1st and is both respectfully ranked around 100 in the world.

and your questions deserves some thoughts.

what function does the NZOC serve if they are restricting participation by athletes in the Olympic Games to this extent?

Is there any other country you know of that has a restriction like this on its athletes who qualify to compete in the games?

 

[jmillsy2]

Hi Carl Horowitz

thanks heaps for the comment and inspiring videos! I have enjoyed reading them and you have asked some thoughtful questions. I don't know other countries who have restrictions like this, but there may be another country... I still love table tennis because its such a beautiful sport, but it is difficult to stay motivated, by actually qualifying for the Olympic Games through the IOC and ITTF rules is the most that an athlete can do, but when there is another set of criteria set on you but not athletes from other countries, it is hard to understand. For example, the Oceania Olympic qualifying tournament is on right now and congrats to William Henzell (Aus) and Jian Fan Lay (Aus) who both qualified on the first day. However, if they were representing New Zealand, they wouldn't be going to the Olympics, even though they qualified 1st and is both respectfully ranked around 100 in the world.

and your questions deserves some thoughts.

what function does the NZOC serve if they are restricting participation by athletes in the Olympic Games to this extent?

Is there any other country you know of that has a restriction like this on its athletes who qualify to compete in the games?

I still feel sorry for you, but I reckon well be seeing Li chunli in London, despite her not even having a ranking because of what she did when she was playing. And how could she justify a top 16 place?