Rojo--
Did you read that other thread? I had posted a long analysis of his 2012 season in light of not only his previous career, but in light of also a history of the 110mH.
What you said is EXACTLY what I'm suggesting. Yes, there is always the possibility that he was clean in 2012, but in my opinion, that possibility is vanishingly small. The only real argument advanced in light of the historically exceptional quality of his 2012 season was that the 110mH is an historically soft event, and that the WR was also soft as a result. That, plus the 7-steps nonsense.
Moscow 2013: Merritt, 13.31 (+0.3)
Impressive. He's still riding the wave of the massive doping that he did in 2012.
This is a time that one would expect of him in the final, given that he had to go all-out in the semi just to get in...just a bit slower than his semi was, maybe .05 slower.
Now compare this time, and his semi time, to his entire 2012 season.
Unbelievable. He is beyond the pale.
You suggest that he is slower in 2013 because he got injured--what about the entirety of his career prior to 2012? Did he get injured every year?
And if so, why did he not appear to get injured in 2012?
Forget about him going sub-13 again, what you need to watch for is if he NEVER goes sub-13 again.
I don't want any apology, I would be absolutely glad if I were wrong. What I want is for people to take a look at his career in an objective way, and reach an opinion of their own.
I posted facts about his 2012 season in light of his previous career and in light of the 110mH historically, and labeled some of those facts "ridiculous", because IMO they are worthy of ridicule.
No, the "analysis" wasn't exhaustive. But few people chimed in with anything that suggested a different conclusion.
I don't know Merritt. I only know the performances that I see. When Merritt's 2012 season in relation to his career and to the event in general is compared to the seasons of certain other athletes who were known to have been doping or who were strongly suspected of doping, suspicion of him having doped in 2012 is reasonable.
Once again, the plain fact that he has never returned a positive test is only one piece of evidence, and is far from conclusive, as the cases of Marion, Lance, and others has shown.