Roald Bradstock, the British Olympian who still throws 230 feet in the javelin at age 46, has been on a rollercoaster the past week as he seeks confirmation of his fate: Will he or won’t he compete in the U.S. Olympic Trials? An American citizen since 1996, Roald has gotten different signals on the size of the men’s javelin field in Eugene next week. Currently, he’s out. The cut is supposedly at 24, and he’s No. 25. But who knows what tomorrow will bring? Maybe his appeal for fairness on the Track & Field News message board might sway some tiptop USATF official. RB appears to be a victim of some questionable decision-making. At least Jeff Hartwig is in at 40.

Here’s what Roald posted on the T&FN message board:

I am not asking for exception or special treatment! I am asking for fairness — nothing else.
I threw 72.02m in the time frame specified at a USATF sanctioned meet.
I was 2nd to enter my event and the first to declare for the OT. As expected I moved down to 24 on the list of entries and that was where I remained through the entry deadline. I made the “minimum desired number of athletes” for my event – whew….
Last week I called USATF and asked about Doug Leftler who had thrown 75.52m but was not listed. They informed he was not listed because he was not a US Citizen. So I remained 24th for a week past the entry deadline and 2 days + past the appeals to entrys.
After waiting for weeks to finalize my travel schedule I booked plane tickets, made hotel and car reservations fot the OT. I have 2 jobs as does my wife we have 4 kids I could not wait til the day before.
Then just hours after I finilaze my plans Doug Lefter name pops up on the list of entries ( he is a US citizen ) and then by the next morning he is confirmed and Adam Burke has an updated mark he has entered form 2006 way before the time frame given by the USATF!
I followed all the rules and in my book I made it in.
Anyone that knows me knows how much I love Track and Field and I love throwing. It has been a life long passion and pursuit.
I not asking for any special favors just to be treated fairly.

As of early today, here is the lineup of men’s jav entries:

Qual. Mark Seed Mark Entry Declaration
Breaux Greer unattached / adidas
Scottsdale, AZ 91.29 91.29 qualified declared
Leigh Smith unattached
Destrehan, LA 83.74 83.74 qualified declared
Mike Hazle unattached / Nike
Chula Vista, CA 82.21 82.21 qualified declared
Christopher Hill unattached
Sulphur, LA 81.72 81.72 qualified declared
Corey White unattached
San jose, CA 81.65 81.65 qualified declared
Adam Montague University of Florida
Gainesville, FL 80.20 80.20 qualified declared
Brian Chaput Javelin USA
Philadelphia, PA 79.97 79.97 qualified declared
Sean Furey unattached
Mission Viejo, CA 78.90 78.90 qualified declared
Daniel Brown unattached
Fayetteville, AR 76.76 76.76 qualified declared
John Hetzendorf unattached
Wichita, KS 76.64 76.64 qualified declared
Doug Lefler unattached
Missoula, MT 75.52 75.52 qualified declared
Bobby Smith Monmouth Track Club
Bradley Beach, NJ 75.46 75.46 qualified declared
Shae Murray unattached
Mead, WA 74.80 74.80 qualified declared
Justin St Clair unattached
Morrisville, NC 74.71 74.71 qualified declared
Barry Krammes Shore Athletic Club of New Jersey
Shawnee on Delaware, PA 74.16 74.16 qualified declared
Cyrus Hostetler Lane Community College
Eugene, OR 73.63 73.63 qualified declared
Allen Pettner unattached
State College, PA 73.09 73.09 qualified declared
Mark Bridge unattached
Coraopolis, PA 72.74 72.74 qualified declared
Ryan Brandel unattached
Portland, OR 72.54 72.54 qualified declared
Brett Trudo unattached
Junction City, KS 72.42 72.42 qualified declared
Jon Jeffreys unattached
Spokane, WA 72.35 72.35 qualified declared
Ryan Weidman Bigfoot Track Club
Spokane, WA 72.29 72.29 provisional pending
Bradley Roth Arizona State University
Tempe, AZ 72.24 72.24 provisional pending
Aris Borjas VS Athletics Track Club
San Luis Obispo, CA 72.06 72.06 provisional pending
Arne Bradstock unattached
Atlanta, GA 72.02 72.02 provisional pending
Paul Pisano ConnQuest
Middletown, CT 71.81 71.81 provisional pending