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1. Gatlin's statement sounded like it was written by his lawyer. When do athletes get to decide how they're going to control the media's awareness of these bombshells? Only the USATF cedes over shit like that. 2. Masback's response was incredibly lame. As though viligant self-policing and athletes patting each other on the back for going a few days or weeks without injecting steroids is going to do the trick. Nancy Reagan is still alive--maybe she can revive her "Just Say No" chant and tailor it to morally bankrupt track stars. A better Masback PR statement would have been "If Sample B is dirty, he's done". 3. Releasing the Gatlin tests positive statement at Saturday noon on the hottest day of the summer when millions of Americans are at the beach, camping, at ball games, mowing the lawn, etc. was pure genius. Although if Gatlin could have yelled his comments toward the bottom of a well, it would have had a more desired effect. USATF must not have been able to find Gatlin a well. 4. The greed the Gatlin/Nehemiah camp exhibited apparently knew no bounds. Hopefully, Nehemiah's agent career will be tainted by this as well. The motherlode won't be arriving anytime soon, Renaldo, and you'll have to wait awhile before you can try to hold up promoters and rip off the paying public again. 5. Anyone who can look at any sprinter who trained under Trevor Graham without raised eyebrows ought to seek serious professional help. Can't we cram Trevor Graham into a cannon and blast him off like Hunter S. Thompson's grand send off? It might even be environmentally friendly--a little greasy spot in a field a few counties over. 6. That includes the dozen or so hardcore Marion Jones followers on the T&FN board who wouldn't suspect a thing if Marion asked any of them to pull a syringe out of her ass because they didn't see her stick the syringe in her ass. Tafnut would consider it his life's greatest achievement if Marion Jones asked him to pull a needle out of her ass. 7. Gatlin's sponsors ought to be lining up lawsuits to recoup the monies invested in him. But they won't. Who wants to be known as the sponsor of the greatest doping cheat in the last 20 years? You fooled us, son. Better to cut and run. Leave it to the grad students in MBA school to figure out the ethics later. 8. Gatlin was almost a mainstream hero to a lot of kids. Remember his appearance on "The Apprentice"? As much as Gatlin has impugned the integrity of athletics, imagine the mixed message kids will get from this. Adults screw up big time. They lie. They cheat. Some get away with it, others don't. 9. I'm done with my interest in sprinting at the highest of levels. I'm done with thinking Gatlin is a class guy compared to noodleheads like Jon Drummond, Bernard Williams, Mark Lewis-Francis, Marion Jones, Zhanna Pintusevich-Block. Bob Hayes was clean. The rest I'm going to forget about. 10. Justin Gatlin was a magnificent athlete who didn't have to cheat. Emphasis on "was". He's toast and the sport will be better for it. Take your ADD meds and twitch off into the sunset, bud. |
| weather man |
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yes, because sprinters are the only track athletes who are on drugs. |
| so |
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No, because it's turned into a freak show. That's what it has evolved into. I'm not denying some distance runners dope. |
| fellini satyricon |
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excellent post, so. this is a sad day. i liked gatlin. i thought he was different. f*** this sport. f*** all sports. |
| fellini satyricon |
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f*** there is still doubt in my head though. shouldn't we start testing thousands of "normal" volunteers regarding this testosterone thing? |
| iClick |
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You know what I'd like? Just once, when one of these chumps gets caught, instead of the excuses and insistences that they never "knowingly" took any banned substnces, I'd love to hear them say, "Yes, I'm guilty as charged. I have no excuse, I just gambled & lost." Never gonna happen, but you can always dream. |
| Atanvarno |
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they are testing thousands of athletes and 99% of their tests come back with normal t/e quotients |
| mobile9 |
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It did happen -- Cathal Lombard admitted it immediately. |
| two |
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...but said he only got on it to "get back into the form he was in before injury when he set the irish 10km record". |
| AliasAliasAlias |
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And yet, and yet...the idiot in my head still believes in Powell. |
| gatlin time to move on |
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Reigning Olympic and world 100-meter champion Justin Gatlin said Saturday he has been informed that he tested positive for testosterone or its precursors. "Precursors" is another term for anabolic steroids. "I have been informed by the United States Anti-doping Agency that after a relay race I ran in Kansas City on April 22, I tested positive for 'testosterone or its precursors,' " Gatlin said in a statement. Gatlin's attorney, Cameron Myler, told Reuters in a telephone call from New York, "It is unfortunate, but it is true." Myler also confirmed that the 24-year-old Gatlin's "B" sample was tested in July and again showed an unusually high level of testosterone. The New York Times also reported that both samples tested positive. The sprinter now faces a lifetime ban from the sport. I guess he has failed both samples. Time to move on this and get this cheat out |
| Mary Lou Retton |
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1. Gatlin's statement sounded like it was written by Marion Jones. "I have never knowingly taken a banned performance enhanced drug! I am for and always support a drug-free sport" |
| JonDCH |
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Sad. |
| JonDCH |
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Before this latest drug test result, I was already skeptical of any sprint track performance. The other day I was watching Asafa Powell and Marion Jones in the Norwich Grand Prix and wondering if they were using, as well. It's a scary, but possible, notion that all this is just the tip of the iceberg - that only a small sample get caught and the problem is quite pervasive. I wonder about performances of the East and North African runners. I very, very much want them to be for real. This skepticism hurts the sport. IAAF and IOC get your act together. |
| shoe fetish |
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forget you guys. Gatlin is a good man and he has done nothing but his best to try to help the sport. He is a gracious and humble man and everyone that ACTUALLY knows him will agree! WE all stand behind him. |
| gatlin time to move on |
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Gatlin may be a kind man, but his failure of drug tests (yes multiple, 2001 and 2006)show that he is a not a good role model for the sport and that is the bottom line. No one is debating whether or not he is a nice guy, and that shouldn't matter, he isn't being tried on that, but rather on the fact that he failed tests. Remember that! |
| gatlin time to move on |
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Oh and by the way, Gatlin in no way on tv portrays himself as being humble. |
| how fast can you run in a 6x8 |
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Why is there no penalty for these guys other than getting a 2 year ban from running? To me it sends the message that you can get doped up, run fast as hell, make $4-5 million and then "retire" at age 27 because you failed a drug test. Maybe if there were fines, and serious jail time behind all this it would slow down a bit. |
| media coverage |
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Powerful track institutions like Nike, the Olympics, and yes the NY Marathon have to send the message loud and clear that everyone who cheats gets caught, rather than we don't want to know what you doin. Look at the NY Marathon -- they throw $40,000 and a Mercedes at the winner of their race and they don't even test the contenders before or after the race. |
| so |
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The business aspect for those corporations is always going to supercede the ethical aspect. Nike is all about attitude and style, not substance. Nor illegal substances. They know no one is going to boycott them despite having sponsored half the drug cheats in the sport. Guys like Gatlin can be pharmaceutically manufactured and the product line extends deep. |