Wow. These threads about Ritz and doping caught me off guard when I started going through them. I am admittedly a bit naive about some of this drug stuff...maybe because in my early 50's I'm old enough to have grown up during a time when the first thought when someone ran fast was "wow!", instead of "right. wonder what they're taking."
With a brother who was four years older, and a bonafide stud from the 100 all the way up to cross country, I couldn't wait to run for my high school team. I've been a participant in road races and a rabid track fan ever since. I don't remember anyone suspecting Craig Virgin of doping when he twice won the World Cross Country Championships...or when he ran the second fastest 10K in history around the same time. Or Pat Porter, as he was winning EIGHT U.S cross championships. Rodgers, Meyer, Curp, Dixon, Rono...of all the guys from the late 1970's into the 1980's, the only one they whispered about was Viren...and his suspected blood doping. SO, it's all a bit sad to me that today, no one knows what to believe. Here's a pretty reasonable piece from a few years back on the issue of the tents. After reading it, I'm tempted to equate them to other 'equalizers' that athletes use...such as custom made orthotics that allow the biomechanically challenged to compete with the biomechanically stable.
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/07/26/sports/othersports/26altitude.html?pagewanted=print
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I do not believe Ritz is doping, would dope, or needs to dope. Most of us know what he did in high school, but in case anyone doesn't, a few times are worth noting:
1600 - 4:06
2 mile - 8:48
3200 - 8:41
And then, of course, there's his 14:10 state 5k cross win...a win that was 55 seconds up on second place.
And...his 14:29 second national title...over Webb and Hall.
And finally, his third at the world cross champs in 2001...
http://www2.iaaf.org/wxc01/results/data/M/XJ/Rf.html
, ahead of all but two African runners, including Bekele.
In my mind, the notion that he showed then the potential to, eight years later, with an adult mind and body and years of training and competition, find himself in a rabbited track 5K and cut about a minute:thirty from those 5K cross country times is not a huge stretch. And as anyone who's paid any attention at all to his racing knows, he's tougher than hell, and is willing to run to the brink to try and win.
So, at the risk of being flamed as still naive (or worse), I choose to reject the doping accusations. I believe that what he's done is the result of hard work, a level head, and God-given ability. I believe in Ritz.
Go Ritz! You've got a lot of people geeked here in Michigan!