can't be possible wrote:
"It just can't be possible for x person to do x, so he/she MUST be on drugs" Because, nobody can be that much better than I am.
^Fixed^
Nobody said he must be on drugs. However, when a 38 year old is within a second of their PR in a middle distance event, you have to admit it is reasonable to question the circumstances. I just don't think it is physiologically possible that your capabilities at 38 are not at least in decline. That does not mean that you can't set PRs or still run close to them, but to me the only reasonable conclusion if he is clean now, is that he would easily have had the WR 5,6 or even 10 years ago. Maybe he has discovered some breakthrough training. I'm 38 and conceivably could set some PRs still, but that is mostly because I never really took my training to a really high level in the past. I am pretty sure that Lagat has been training at a very high level for years. When you are already at 10, the only place to go is to 11 and only Spinal Tap can do that.
Last time an athlete near that age was setting records (or close to it), turns out they were doping. Regina Jacobs.
I hope he is clean. As of right now there is no evidence of anything amiss. However we have been disappointed so many times, by so many athletes, it is hard to take anything at face value.
Looking forward to it all being fun again and getting excited about these type of performances instead of just wondering if we are being suckered.