Cowherd is going off right now. Cowherd's rant is referencing this article by Dan Bernstein: Bernstein: Usain Bolt Is Probably Doping (And You Know It)http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/12/bernstein-usain-bolt-is-probably-doping-and-you-know-it/The article and Cowherd are sloppy as they both talk a lot about Bolt's ties to Angel Hernedia of BALCO- which was 100% not fact and just sloppy reporting as that never existed. Last November, we and others told you someone just used the word "Bolt" for sprinter and were being lazy: http://www.letsrun.com/2011/homepage1111.phpCowherd of course doesn't mention Jeter's actual ties to BALCO whereas Bolt has zero ties to BALCO.
Bernstein writes:
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, who just won the silver in the 100 and 200, tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug prior to the 2009 World Championships. Teammates Julian Dunkley and Steve Mullings have also been caught doping.
What are the odds that a tiny, island country suddenly dominates global competition…just because?
Bolt reportedly has been working with Angel Hernandez, too. Hernandez used to be called Angel Heredia, back when he was a chemist for BALCO and later “Source A,” who supplied the documents that helped convict Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, C.J. Hunter and Justin Gatlin. Gatlin just took bronze in the 100, behind Bolt and Blake.
So while it angers me to actually have to hear a specific falsehood in this case and to have a 3 month drug ban compared to a 2 year one, it proves a larger point.
In this instance he's way off the money but in a larger sense he's right on the money (if he was talking about Jeter, I wouldn't have a big problem with his rant)
Nick Symmmonds and everyone else who wants to know why they can't get sponsors - the answer is simple.
DOPING SUSPICIONS ARE KILLING THE POPULARITY OF THE SPORT. One of America's largest sports talk show hosts is saying he can't really get into the Olympic track because he wonders if they are clean.
So if you are one who gets upset because we ask uncomfortable questions, then you don't get it. More questions need to be asked as dopers have to be treated like pariahs.
Hopefully, the tide is really turning in that direction.
But the sport has a long way to go. I may write an editorial about this.
But think about this fact for a minute. Think about how many medalists in London were openly asked about possible doping links when they met with the press after winning their medals.
It's a good thing that people are finally starting to openly ask some questions but it's scary that so many questions still exist. To me, the Olympics were both uplifting and depressing in that sense.
Think of all the doping related questions that were asked of the following medalists.
Women's 1500 - Alptekin asked about past doping
Women's 100/200- Jeter asked BALCO/Block.
Men's 110 h - Richardson BALCO/Block.
Men's 5k/10k - Farah was asked about thyroid by Europeans.
Men's 1500 - I'm not sure if Makhloufi was asked directly about doping but he was asked about his injury, improvement so basically he was.
Weldon was there so he'd know if more questions were asked but those are the ones I know of.
There are only 10 mid-d and distance golds handed out for track action at the Olympics and the winners of four of them were basically asked questions about doping (Farah counts twice, Alpetkin and Makhloufi). That's 40%.
My aunt just called and asked if I enjoyed the Olympics. I told her "Well I'm not sure if this is the best time for me to answer this as I'm still exhausted from working for 10 days straight. Some of it was certainly spectacular but I feel worn down right now - worn down from working and worn down from wondering if the people winning the events I care about are doped."
Fight on.