A Selection Committee is a group of individuals who determine the nominations that will compete for a particular prize or award. Committee members are usually experts in their field, with a good understanding of the context and issues surrounding their work. They should also be able to bring different perspectives to the table, and research has shown that implicit bias is mitigated when members take adequate time for discussion before making their decision.
The World Food Prize is an annual international prize awarded to individuals who have worked across political boundaries and disciplines to solve the problems of global hunger. The award is named after Norman Borlaug, the famed American wheat breeder and founder of the Green Revolution, who won the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts. The Committee selects the prize winner from among nominees submitted by people from around the world. The committee includes members from a variety of fields and countries, including people who work in academia, government, nonprofits and private companies.
Each country’s Olympic committee works with the International Federation that governs their sport on a global level to determine how many Olympic quota spots (Olympic-qualifying competitions) should be allocated to athletes in each sport at any given Olympics. Once the quota spots are determined, National Governing Bodies (NGBs for short) then decide on a process for selecting their teams. Some NGBs use subjective selection processes like evaluations at competitions or team selection camps, while others follow more objective procedures such as results-based judging at trials competition and well-defined scoring systems.
As a result of the varying selection processes, it is common for the final Olympic team to differ from the initial list of nominated candidates. This is due to both subjective and objective criteria used in the evaluation of each nominee, as well as the fact that not all sports are equal in terms of their performance potential at the Olympic Games.
Generally, the highest-scoring gymnasts at each event make the final Olympic team. This does not always yield the best overall team, however, as the team that wins a competition at the Olympics is only one of several ways a nation can qualify for the World Championships and the Olympic Games.
Despite the controversy over the team selection process, the final Olympic roster will likely be very strong and the women are expected to do very well in individual events at this year’s Summer Olympics in Tokyo.
One of the more intriguing questions will be what lineup USAG ends up with for team finals and who will fill in the weak spots in the lineup. Riley McCusker was a top contender for the team before she withdrew from camp, but her loss will likely still leave a gap in their lineup. People like Hurd and Joscelyn Roberson may step up to help fill in those holes, but fans will be watching closely how the selection committee handles that scenario. Ultimately, the team will be made up of six gymnasts plus three non-traveling alternates.