T&F News Doesn't Like Olympic Trials Odds for Bobby Curtis

Track and Field News, the "bible" since 1948, has just released its latest US Olympic Trials form chart, and Bobby Curtis is predicted to finish out of the money in his quest to make the 2012 London team. The experts there rank him # 10 in the US (down from # 4 at last look), with the introduction of Chris Derrick and Dathan Ritzenhein into the rankings at the # 3 and 4 spots, respectively. Ben True (PR 27:41.17), who headed Curtis in a road 5K recently, jumped ahead of Curtis, as did Brent Vaughn (27:40.21), Brian Olinger (27:50.58) and Tim Nelson (27:28.19). So, Curtis has his doubters, which should provide plenty of motivation for the 27:24.67 man.

Some of this strike us as ludicrous (especially the placing of Olinger, True, and Vaughn ahead of Curtis, despite their PRs that are 26, 17, and 16 seconds slower, respectively). Admittedly, Curtis has not run a track 10,000 meter race this season, seeking to peak at the Trials, but then again neither has Tim Nelson, who jumped Curtis on the list despite having finished behind Curtis each time they've jointly contested that distance. What next, Kevin Castille? He's had a great spring. One hopes that Curtis is sufficiently motivated by the apparent lack of faith in him on the part of the experts at T&F News to put these people in their place.

10,000 METERS

Rank    Name             Sponsor         Prev
1.   Galen Rupp          (Nike)          1
2.   Matt Tegenkamp      (Oregon TC)     2
3.   Chris Derrick       (Stanford)      nr
4.   Dathan Ritzenhein   (Nike)          nr
5.   Brent Vaughn        (Nike)          8
6.   Scott Bauhs         (Mammoth TC)    3
7.   Ben True            (Saucony)       7
8.   Brian Olinger       (Reebok)        8
9.   Tim Nelson          (Nike)          5
10.  Bobby Curtis        (Reebok)        4
10.  Aaron Braun         (Adidas)        7
11.  Ryan Vail           (Brooks)        6
12.  Bobby Mack          (unattached)   10
13.  James Strang        (unattached)    9
14.  Josh Simpson        (ASATF)         nr
15.  Ed Moran            (Nike)         10