Khannouchi’s Absence Opens Marathon Field

One man’s misfortune could be another man’s Olympic ticket at the U.S. marathon trials Saturday in Birmingham, Ala.

Khalid Khannouchi, who holds the U.S. record of 2 hours 5 minutes 38 seconds and has run the three fastest U.S. marathon times, won’t compete because of chronic foot and knee injuries. A hamstring injury kept him out of the 2000 Olympic marathon trials.

Without Khannouchi, the fastest qualifying times for the trials are Alan Culpepper’s 2 hours 9 minutes 41 seconds and UCLA alum Meb Keflezighi’s personal-best 2:10.03 at the 2003 Chicago marathon. No U.S. man has won an Olympic marathon medal since 1976, when Frank Shorter won a silver at Montreal after having won gold at Munich in 1972.

“[Khannouchi’s] absence is a big gap and creates an open space for some of us to move into,” said Dan Browne, the 2002 U.S. marathon champion and disciple of marathoner-turned coach Alberto Salazar. “This will be one of those races where you have to be prepared for anything.”

Culpepper, the 2003 U.S. champion at 10,000 meters and a 2000 Olympian at that distance, said Khannouchi’s absence “changes the dynamics” of a race that will be run in favorable temperatures, predicted to be in the low 40s.

“Obviously, if there’s a 2:05 guy not racing, it makes a big difference,” said Culpepper, whose only previous marathon was at Chicago in 2002. “Khalid being injured so long, my thinking wasn’t that he was coming in at 2:05 shape.... It should be more spread out among a number of us.”

The top three finishers will be nominated for the Olympic team if they’ve met the Olympic “A” qualifying standard of 2:15. If the Olympic trials winner hasn’t achieved the Olympic “A” standard but has achieved the Olympic “B” standard (2:18) during the selection period, he will be the only marathoner nominated for the Olympic team.

If the trials winner hasn’t met either standard, the next finisher who has met the “A” or “B” standard will be considered the winner for the purpose of selecting the Olympic team, and the rest of the team will be selected by rank of finish at the trials. If the trials winner has an “A” qualifying standard to his credit but opts out of the marathon before July 18 to compete in another event -- Browne and Culpepper might enter the 10,000 instead -- the next-fastest finishers from the trials will be selected.

Culpepper, Keflezighi, Browne, Eddy Hellebuyck, Keith Dowling, Clint Verran, 2003 U.S. marathon champion Ryan Shay and Peter DeLaCerda have met the Olympic “A” standard. Keflezighi, who has been battling tendinitis and flu, trains with Shay and DeLaCerda with Team USA California, based at Chula Vista and Mammoth Lakes.

Browne likes Saturday’s course, which angles slightly downhill and has three loops.

“It’s going to be great,” he said. “I don’t predict it’s going to be a slow [winning] time. I think it will be fairly fast.”

Tumbling to Athens

Six spots on the U.S. men’s gymnastics national team, and chances to compete in prestigious international meets, will be determined today and Saturday in the Winter Cup, at the Las Vegas Sports Park. It’s the first step toward the U.S. championships, June 2-5 at Nashville, and the Olympic trials, June 24-27 at the Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim.

“The Olympics are really close,” said Jason Gatson of Upland, who won a silver medal with the men’s team at last year’s world championships at Anaheim and finished eighth in the all-around and seventh on still rings.

“Before you know it, June will pop up, and two weeks after that we’ll be back in Anaheim. My family lives 20 minutes from the Pond, so that’s a plus for me. It’s not often your parents can watch you compete. I’m glad I got the opportunity to compete there because I know what it’s going to be like. The crowd was really amazing. It pumps athletes up.”

Tabitha Yim of Irvine also hopes to be in Anaheim in June after having been hobbled by injuries for nearly two years. Yim, 18, plans to return to competition March 4-6 at the American Classic at the Ontario Convention Center.

A broken left leg kept her out of last year’s world championships, but she worked as a volunteer and helped cheer the U.S. women to the team title.

“Hopefully, I won’t be watching this time,” she said. “It was really motivating watching the women win gold because the team has so much depth.”

Here and There

Wrestling’s elite men and women will compete in the Dave Schultz Memorial International meet this weekend at the U.S. Olympic Training Center in Colorado Springs. Rulon Gardner, the 2000 Greco-Roman gold medalist and 2001 world champion, is expected to compete.... The U.S. cross-country championships will be held Saturday and Sunday at Indianapolis. The top six in the senior and junior races will qualify for the world championships in Brussels. Deena Drossin Kastor of Mammoth Lakes is the six-time returning long course champion.