Discussion: American selection

Interesting article at fasterskier.com that introduces the term "American Selection" to refer to a procedure where athletes for a national team/olympics/etc. are picked according to some complex system of points, rather than coaches discretion.

I'm not sure the translation is exactly right. I recall "amerikansk uttagning" refering to a race where the team selection would be based on the results alone - if they were picking 3 people, the top 3 in the selection race made it. There wasn't a complex system of points. Of course, that was 20 years ago (and in Sweden rather than Norway). Maybe the term has changed since then.

The original article at landg.se doesn't include the definition of "american selection."

The primary reason that Olympic sports in the U.S. tend to have objective, well publicized Team selection criteria is lawsuits.

Spike is correct. "amerikansk uttagning" in both Sweden and Norway refers originally to the selection method used by US Track and Field, i.e. the first 3 places at the pre-determined selection race receives the 3 spots at World Champs/Olympics etc. So no complex system of points.