Webb's 2016 Olympic Chances

Is Alan Webb finished? Many people are doubting his Olympic chances this year, but more importantly is he even going to make the Olympic trials. Four years ago the headline on July sixth was "Webb doesn't qualify for Olympics", four years later the headline might be "Webb doesn't qualify for the Olympic trials".

As of today Webb has 70 days to get the Qualifying  mark of 3:43.00, but even that will not guarantee him entry to the trials as the A standard is 3:39.00. But after Webb's rough weekend at the Florida relays, 1:54  for 800 meters and 3:54 for 1500 meters it seems hard to imagine he can make the Olympic team or even the trials for that matter. To put it into perspective Webb's 1:51:91 800m from indoors is much closer to the 800m B standard of 1:48.3 than either of his races this past weekend. Webb seems to have regressed or at the very least stalled in terms of his fitness over the last several months. In February, he ran a 1:20-1 600 meter time trial and it seems that he hasn't made much progress sense then .It is a given that Webb is often times all over the place and I know ten weeks is a long time but at this point he seems like even a long shot to make the trials.

That being said let's take a look at Webb's chances for the 2016 Olympics,they don't look as bad as some might think. In 2016, Webb will be 33 years old, In the last six Olympics only one American has made the 1500 meter team at age 33 or older, Bernard Lagat in 2008. But three others have made the team after the age of 30, including Jim Spivey 1992 and Steve Scott 1988. So while Webb's hopes for 2012 might not be strong, we should not write off his career just yet as there is still plenty of time for him to right the ship.