Athletics Australia has been accused of breaking its own selection criteria amid a tense row over the women’s marathon selections for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games.

Aussie Olympic great Sally Pearson has declared she “can’t believe what is happening in the sport I love dearly” amid Lisa Weightman’s failed attempt to become the first Aussie track and field athlete to compete at five Olympics.

In an exclusive column for News.com.au, Pearson has fiercely defended her former Olympic Village flatmate, concerned over the “integrity” of selection.

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Nine reported Sinead Diver, Genevieve Gregson and Jess Stenson (nee Trengove) have been selected, with only three spots available, despite six women meeting the Olympic entry standard of 2:26:50.

Weightman ran the third-fastest time in the qualification period, a 2:23:15 behind Gregson’s 2:23:08 and Diver’s 2:21:34, but ahead of Izzi Batt-Doyle (2:23:27), Eloise Wellings (2:25:47) and critically Stenson (2:24:01).

But Stenson, who won gold at the 2022 Commonwealth Games, ran her time just six months after giving birth to her second child, and in the famously hilly South Korean Daegu marathon.

Things got personal on Tuesday when Weightman’s husband Lachlan McArthur angrily tweeted at Stenson, asking her to remove the header image on her Twitter account which saw both families happy after a race.

“@JessTrengove could you please take down your background photo of my family,” McArthur wrote .

“BTW, this was after one of the 7-1 all-time head to head wins by @LisaWeightman.”

The post showed that McArthur had already ‘muted’ Stenson’s account, to avoid her posts, and was not following her.

Stenson changed the photo with McArthur then replying: “Thank you @JessTrengove for taking down the photo. It is much appreciated. We have a heartbroken family here”.

McArthur has since deleted his account.

On Wednesday, it was revealed Weightman’s appeal had failed and while she has “received legal advice that I have a sound basis to appeal to the Court of Arbitration of Sport”, she has chosen not to take this costly legal step.

“Success in that forum would be expensive and uncertain and still likely result in the matter being returned to AA for redetermination,” she said in a statement.

“I am of course disappointed by the decision given that I fought hard and fair to gain my qualification time – the third fastest of all Australian women during the qualification period. However, what I am most disappointed about is AA’s own internal systems and procedures that have allowed this outcome and which, unless corrected, will negatively impact future Australian athletes and their legitimate claims to represent Australia.”

As Weightman explained:

“AA elected not to nominate me to the Australian Olympic Committee despite:

– Earning a quota place (Top three fastest Australians in the qualification period);

– Obtaining three qualifiers and running under the standard five times from July 2022 to Feb 2024 (no nominated athlete had more than 1 in that period – man or woman), including one race in Valencia where I ran with Covid;

– Having a 7-1 head-to-head record (including 3-1 in the marathon) against the fifth ranked athlete who was nominated in place of me; and

– Being the only Australian athlete to podium finish in an international marathon (23 seconds from 1st place) and having beaten the highest ranked athlete with a quota place (12th – Helen Bekele) on the road to Paris qualification ranking list.

The selection committee was effectively able to disregard the above facts and instead give greater weight to a speculative belief that the three nominated athletes had superior claims to finishing top eight in Paris.”

Pearson wrote Weightman had not been given a direct reason why she was not selected.

“She’s going round and round in circles with the same people,” she said.

“I’ve never heard of anything like this happening before. But now we have to ask what’s happened in the past?

“We just want answers.”