Why did Morceli fade in the mid-late 90s?

Yeah. He crumbled trying to keep up with El G in the 97 World Champs and fell to 4th.

The only medals Morceli has are Gold.

I just think 7 straight years at the top of the world took a toll and it was hard to focus if he wasn't going to get faster and wasn't going to be the very best.

... and better drug testing.

WADA wrote:

... and better drug testing.

I doubt it. The test for EPO didn't come out till long after Morcelli was a has-been.

WADA wrote:

... and better drug testing.

No one has successfully used drugs to run fast since 1996 because of the better drug testing.

Star wrote:

WADA wrote:

... and better drug testing.

No one has successfully used drugs to run fast since 1996 because of the better drug testing.

Wrong. The EPO test was first introduced in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics and it was later revealed that it wasn't even 50% effective until 2002. The slew of unbelievable times run by the likes of Guerrouj, Morcelli, Komen, and Geb are all 100% doped. That entire era could easily be forgotten.

Agree.

greatest? wrote:

Guy was a beast then when El G came on the scene he had no answer and fell off a cliff in terms of performances. Did he get psyched out?

Rumor is the Noureddine Morceli did not enjoy having to dope to stay on top and stopped doping immediately after winning gold in 1996. This resulted in an immediate drop off in performance even by the end of that season. In the seasons that followed he was a shadow of his former self not only because he was no longer on EPO and other drugs, but also because of nagging injuries, which some PEDs, such as HGH and test are very good at preventing and healing.

rumor is wrote:

greatest? wrote:

Guy was a beast then when El G came on the scene he had no answer and fell off a cliff in terms of performances. Did he get psyched out?

Rumor is the Noureddine Morceli did not enjoy having to dope to stay on top and stopped doping immediately after winning gold in 1996. This resulted in an immediate drop off in performance even by the end of that season. In the seasons that followed he was a shadow of his former self not only because he was no longer on EPO and other drugs, but also because of nagging injuries, which some PEDs, such as HGH and test are very good at preventing and healing.

el guerrouj certainly had no such reservations about doping

lest we forget this is 7 straight world 1500m titles these 2 dopeheads won

rumor is wrote:

greatest? wrote:

Guy was a beast then when El G came on the scene he had no answer and fell off a cliff in terms of performances. Did he get psyched out?

Rumor is the Noureddine Morceli did not enjoy having to dope to stay on top and stopped doping immediately after winning gold in 1996. This resulted in an immediate drop off in performance even by the end of that season. In the seasons that followed he was a shadow of his former self not only because he was no longer on EPO and other drugs, but also because of nagging injuries, which some PEDs, such as HGH and test are very good at preventing and healing.

This.

Sounds about right

Did El guerrouj ever have an injury

The cocktail of peds he was on such as cortisone test and gh certainly helped injury prevention

He did seem to suffer some side effects such as dental issues and the rumored heart scare due to hematocrit levels

Doping expert wrote:

He did seem to suffer some side effects such as dental issues and the rumored heart scare due to hematocrit levels

What was his heart scared of?

Devil Dog wrote:

Star wrote:

No one has successfully used drugs to run fast since 1996 because of the better drug testing.

Wrong. The EPO test was first introduced in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics and it was later revealed that it wasn't even 50% effective until 2002. The slew of unbelievable times run by the likes of Guerrouj, Morcelli, Komen, and Geb are all 100% doped. That entire era could easily be forgotten.

And that is why today, no one dopes. Case closed. Thanks LR world wide interweb sleuths...you've done it again.

What was his heart scared of?

Stopping.

Doping expert wrote:

Did El guerrouj ever have an injury

The cocktail of peds he was on such as cortisone test and gh certainly helped injury prevention

He did seem to suffer some side effects such as dental issues and the rumored heart scare due to hematocrit levels

Someone correct me if I'm wrong on this, but I believe in Healthy Intelligent Training by Keith Livingstone, there's a chapter that compares El Guerrouj's training to John Walker's and it mentioned that El Guerrouj couldn't run past 75 minutes or so due to a chronic back issue. I remember it being a little ambiguous though, so I don't know if this could be confirmed as true or not, or if it effected him his whole running career or for just the latter parts no less. Still, an injury's an injury, though this one was probably manageable.

EPO was actually developed to treat anaemia. I don't know if chronic EPO abuse would lead to anaemia, but it seems a freaking weird co-incidence. If he had been doping with it for years, the it surely wouldn't be surprising if his body had lost the natural ability to produce it, leading to anaemia.

Devil Dog wrote:

Star wrote:

No one has successfully used drugs to run fast since 1996 because of the better drug testing.

Wrong. The EPO test was first introduced in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics and it was later revealed that it wasn't even 50% effective until 2002.

You're right - it was introduced at Sydney and seven EPO positives from those Games has been secretly kept from the public. Interestingly, the actual first male athlete to be banned for an EPO positive goes to marathon runner Roberto Barbi who was caught glowing at the 2001 WCs in Edmonton.

Devil Dog wrote:

The slew of unbelievable times run by the likes of Guerrouj, Morcelli, Komen, and Geb are all 100% doped. That entire era could easily be forgotten.

So, do we bury that era like it never happen? Think of all people back then that enjoyed watching those performances because they thought they were clean.

Clean or not...it is what it is. And one could also argue that the era of the 70s & 80s was heavily doped with roids & blood transfusions....so, should we just forget that era also? ?

Devil Dog wrote:

Star wrote:

No one has successfully used drugs to run fast since 1996 because of the better drug testing.

Wrong. The EPO test was first introduced in 2000 for the Sydney Olympics and it was later revealed that it wasn't even 50% effective until 2002. The slew of unbelievable times run by the likes of Guerrouj, Morcelli, Komen, and Geb are all 100% doped. That entire era could easily be forgotten.

Doping will never go away. Better to just enjoy the sport and get over the fact that people cheat. Complaining about it in every single thread is just an irritance to those of us who want to talk about great performances.

There were some issues that began popping up in the 90s with EPO that I believe caused a number of athletes to retire early. Not saying that this was the case for Morceli, but makes me wonder. Look up PRCA.

Pure Red Cell Aplasia:

Beginning in the 1990s, reports of PRCA associated with anti-Epo antibodies...These cases were predominantly associated with subcutaneous rhEpo administration and primarily occurred outside the United States; more than 90% of cases involved a particular rhEpo product. Epidemiologic studies eventually implicated potential adjuvant effects of leachates from rubber stoppers in prefilled syringes and particular stabilizers in the specific rhEpo formulation. With resolution of these issues, new cases have become rare.

Interesting article in cycling news ... cases began popping up in the 90s, but it took a while for researchers to begin to put things together to determine the cause.

http://autobus.cyclingnews.com/features/?id=badEPO

He didn't, he just retired early.