MJ's 19.32 Legit or on Drugs

tamicuk wrote:

The facts are these

1. Michael Johnson ran 19.32 in the finals of the Olympic 200 meters

2. Michael Johnson passed his drug test.

The rest, while interesting, remains speculation.

So have lots of other athletes who have turned out to be dopers, like Carl Lewis.

He was probably doped, look at his build. He had what body builders call the wax fruit look. However, his opponents for the most part were probably doped also. With all the drugs floating about, it's hard to imagine a clean sprinter being able to compete at the highest levels at any point over the last 20 years or so.

Johnson was caught on roids in 1992. Track and Field News knows this as do other people in the sport. Blowing the whistle on Johnson opens up the mess to more runners than what we're seeing in the BALCO farce and truth about USATF drug coverups for sprinters.

The track in Atlanta was no doubt illegal, just like the one used in Tokyo at the WC's - which also resulted in fast times. However, the track in Atlanta was much more "advanced" and even harder. Good for sprinters, miserable for distance runners in terms of aches and pains.

Anyhow, this story was first told to me by one of Jamaica's team coaches, then again by a British Official, who wasn't happy about the way things eventually went down. Here's the Reader's Digest version: Johnson was caught a few weeks before the games in Barcelona. One crowd of officials wanted him suspended, the other group didn't want another Ben Johnson scandal. An agreement was finally reached whereby Johnson was allowed to run, but would be monitored. Any hint of drug use, and he would be exposed. Johnson wasn't running nearly so well, so 'food poisoning' became his cover story. He didn't get through the rounds of the 200 and in fact ended up by 'only' running a leg on the 4 x 400 relay. After the games, Johnson and his crew began working with roids and sythetic HGH. The combo worked very well for Johnson in the end.

He looked like a tank on the track because of drugs. Natural bodybuilders cannot build or maintain the type of muscle mass that doped up sprinters exhibit.

I heard that story several years ago from an elite sprinter who is still competing today. He was very matter of fact about it.

That story is a bunch of crap. You think MJ was really a 20.5 sprinter?

I didn't say he wasn't doped. I said there were no facts to support it, only speculation. And there remains only speculation. And rumor, of course.

"The track in Atlanta was no doubt illegal, just like the one used in Tokyo at the WC's..."

Illegal? Fill me in on this one--downhill? Lanes 1 and 2 are shorter?

Illegal? By what rules, standards, canons,....

I have heard that same story and the governing body let him get away with it in 96 because of the 2/4 double and what he could do for the sport of t/f.

Word in 96 was the track was designed for MJ's 2/4 double and record breaking potential.

"Herd" "Word" -- show some "actual" "real" "honest to goodness" facts...

Hmmmm, an illegal track...need the contractor, the architect, the manufacturer, the USATF, the USOC, the IOOC, and Tammy Faye Baker, yup, that ought to do it.

Are you aware there was a second gun at Dallas?

How about the JATO powered Chevy?

Yea, I was the one who pulled the trigger on the 2nd gun.

You are EXFUCKINGACTLY correct! Futhermore, MJ had more speed than his 10.09 indicated - he ran 10.12 on the curve with a stumbling start during he first half of a 200m! It was MJ's superior SPEED that made him great in the 200m and 400m, while most 400m runners are too slow to compete at shorter distances.

Hergli wrote:

"The track in Atlanta was no doubt illegal, just like the one used in Tokyo at the WC's..."

Illegal? Fill me in on this one--downhill? Lanes 1 and 2 are shorter?

Illegal? By what rules, standards, canons,....

The thickness of the track. Everyone knows the track was thin and compressed. Helps sprinters a lot. TAFNEWS commented on it years ago.

Mr. Know-it-all wrote:

You are EXFUCKINGACTLY correct! Futhermore, MJ had more speed than his 10.09 indicated - he ran 10.12 on the curve with a stumbling start during he first half of a 200m! It was MJ's superior SPEED that made him great in the 200m and 400m, while most 400m runners are too slow to compete at shorter distances.

BS. MJ would have run the 100 more if he'd had more speed than his PR "indicated".

He sure looked doped. His physique was almost bizarre looking by 1995.

STL_Runner wrote:

That story is a bunch of crap. You think MJ was really a 20.5 sprinter?

The most talented guys don't always respond best to drugs, so they can be beaten by less talented guys even when all of them are on the same drugs.

I think MJ was a legit 19.8 or 19.9 sprinter. And a legit 44.2 or so. But then along came the drugs, and he had talent and was a good responder.

thin mondo wrote:The thickness of the track. Everyone knows the track was thin and compressed. Helps sprinters a lot. TAFNEWS commented on it years ago.

So this is a world wide conspiracy, eh?

What's "thin and compressed" mean? Supposed to be a quarter-inch thick and they beat it down to a sixteenth?

They used a 5-ton roller instead of a 500-pounder?

Everyone don't know...what if they put the thin part in the wrong lanes? It would take more work to make it uniformly nonconforming...did they hire extra inspectors trained to check for being out of spec in a certain direction--if not, they might get a legal on the straights, thin, illegal, and fast on the curves...oh, that's how he ran such a great turn...ohhhhhhh, that's why they tore it up that night right after the race....ohhhhhh

bull

Geb didn't do the 5/10 double in 96 because that track was rock hard and tore his feet up during the 10.

They did tear up the tracks soon after the competitions were done in Atlanta and Tokyo. That's interesting you would make a crack and that's what happened.

Obviously the track would be uniformly thin. It would hardly be a conspiracy. Although certain people, people from certain groups, tend to make fun of conspiracies because their own people have been involved in so many. The rest of those who make fun are those who learned to toe the line in school, kiss the prof's tail, and go along with everyone else. There are conspiracies out there, in the real world beyond track and field. Take a look at the Federal Reserve, and the case against the existence of conspiracies is closed.

Back to track, the IAAF commented on the Tokyo situation and let it go in the end. I had heard about the stuff in Atlanta, but didn't pay much attention. However, the runners did mention it. Geb said the reason he didn't go for the 5 and 10 double was the hard track. He'd have pulled it off too, no doubt about it. But sprinters are the bread and butter of American TV coverage when it comes to the Olympic track and field.

Ignore that dolt. He doesn't care about conspiracies. He's just trying to keep you from the fact that MJ was doped to his bulging eyeballs.

stay on topic wrote:...He's just trying to keep you from the fact that MJ was doped to his bulging eyeballs.

"Fact?" Uh, now there is easily the most abused word on this board.

Put some proof up here, sweetie--take your time.

I'll wait.

Hello?

Ohhhh, you meant an unsubstantiated fact--which is called an oxymoron, doltie dearest.