Radcliffe Drops Out!!! What a loser.

For all those who continually talk drugs, why don't you give it a break. In the 80's the eastern Bloc countries were known for their systematic drugs program, right. Then if all the Russians were on drugs, how come Mary Decker was able to beat them. Of course, she was clean.

So rather keep the discussion about the sport simple and don't talk trash continually, leave the drug catching to those who do the job, certainly not the USATF.

let me elaborate then for those who think i'm an ignorant; training for the 5K and 10K is not as radically different to the 3K (and other events women competed in) than the marathon is. the approach and training necessary is completely different. and, usually, athletes begin to compete in track events such as the 5K and 10K and then move up to the marathon later in their careers. i was not dating the event to exactly when olympic medals began to be handed out; i was dating it to when women began to train for it in numbers.

and to give my answer to one of my previous questions to nycrunner: one of the reasons for the gap of 15 years (or so) to when female marathoners began to assault benoit-samuelson's and kristiansen's times is precisely because of what i stated above.

Seems to me that Paula dropped out because of shame, not out of an inability to finish. She's more than capable of completing 6.2 miles. The pressure on her was tremendous. I think she was thinking this could have been her shot at finally medaling in her original event and when she realized she wasn't going to medal she dropped out. Eh, but what do I know?

Where is the honor in not finishing a race? Yes it is great to say "Hey, I made it to the Olympics!" But where is the true honor in that statement without finishing an Olympic final? Yeah, she might have been injured or something along those lines, but ultimatly, when all is said and done, there isn't really an excuse in the world that you could use that would be anywhere near credible for not finishing an Olympic race.

canadian wrote:

It is a fact, those who can't accuse those who can. I saw it in the Army, those who were in the most elite units, they don't have to brag, they know they are good. It's the pretenders that make a lot of noise.

I'm sure that there is nothing but respect for Radcliffe by people like Tulu, Noguchi, Nderaba, Kastor and any other real top runner.

Losers however seem to raise their ego and profile by blurting out accusations without a shred of any kind of evidence.

Amen

Paula has run some very fast times, from 5000m to the Marathon, I would have liked to see her win gold. She ran fast times in good conditions, she never got a track medal on world scale (European and CW the pressure was off). So with her record in the past she was not a dead cert for gold.

When she was not going to get a medal she stopped, when she was going to finish far down the field she stopped. It would have been better if she finished tonight, look at Sonia O'Sullivan getting lapped, I sure for the first time. She said after her race she couldn't stop, in the Olympics. Sonia when she was favourite in 1996, ran crap but finished both her races well down. I have more respect for her.

Paula in an interview on the BBC said she would get some tests done, she said the same when she got beaten over 10k earlier this year. I would have more respect if she said "it jsut was not there today, a better girl on the day won". Instead she seems to always make out something was wrong or she was sick. I wish she would just hold her head high and have respect for thsoe that beat her. I hope she gets gold in 2008 or even the worlds next year, it will be hard bouncing back from this.

Look, the bottom line is that drugs which have been specifically designed to help human bodies recover from illness, produce increased blood function, to improve oxygen transport and muscle absorption, to improve cell regeneration, kidney function, insulin/polypeptide hormone receptor function, etc .... are available over-the-counter in many European countries and have been improved/created in only the last 15 years.

This is no secret ask your doctor. Most, if not all of these engineered molecules are the result of the biotech boom of the seventies and a number of key biotech/pharma companies. You may or may not believe in the content of the rants on these boards, but the fact remains that these drugs are abundant, effective (very effective -- ask a diabetic or a cancer survivor) and they can't be detected (sometimes, but it's very tricky).

In fact, they are even sometimes cheap. The question is, when a lot of money is being offerred for athletic performances that can be substantially improved by these drugs, would you use them? I think for an upper middle class person with professional credentials and a good job would say, "no, I am above that." However, if you need to eat or if the hopes and well being of your family rely on the money from these performances, I think a lot people might decided to find help. Besides, Advil is a form of help even good food is "performance enhancing." I just think that people need to wake-up and realize that doping is not a hard thing to do and lying about it is really really easy. My wife is a Psychiatrist and you would be amazed at the level of denial of which people are capable.

ChicagoDave wrote:

Seems to me that Paula dropped out because of shame, not out of an inability to finish. She's more than capable of completing 6.2 miles. The pressure on her was tremendous. I think she was thinking this could have been her shot at finally medaling in her original event and when she realized she wasn't going to medal she dropped out. Eh, but what do I know?

You say it yourself, Seems to me Why not wait for her to explain herself, as I am sure she will.

and as you say, Eh, but what do I know

exactly, what do most of the posters on this forum know, they can only speculate and that isn't worth the spit of the day.

The fact of the matter is, go read what she has said about how she felt with 4 miles to go. The damage would have been immense. So what if she cried, she is only human.

And congrats to her wanting to give it a go in the 10000m.

People on forums jump on a bandwagon to bully people and most of the threads bashing Radcliffe display the weakest link aspect of many.

I had a VEDDDDY bad day! Or was it WEEK? In any case, I QUIT!!!!!!!!!!

She probably just couldn't be bothered running 12 laps for no reason, I know I couldn't. What had she got to prove? She know's herself she would be the best runner in the race with fresh legs. What would she get out of finishing outside the medals? I think people on here have got the fun runners attitude: "oh your a 'winner' you've gone the distance". I'm sure she know's she can run 10k what has she got to prove?

I think trying to run a 10k less than a week after a dehydrating sweat bath of a marathon attept was not a smart move. The men who want to double have it much easier running the 10k first. It seems like she realized she just didn't have the swiftness in her legs needed to close out a 10k.

Alan

Unfortunately, I think that you are right.

I have watched one runner - won't mention name - who runs a significantly faster pace for 10k than they could do for 5k 9 months ago (the same pace that 18 months ago they couldn't hold for 3k!). Same coach, slightly increased training load.

This person doesn't need the money. It's an ego thing. The compulsion to succeed taking over the wheel.

you're the idiot. it's a numbers game. more female runners. more taking it seriously. add it up and you get faster times. by a lot. and paula ran until she was physically broken on that scorching, hilly marathon course

5 days ago!!! she lined up and took her shot in the 10k. she hung in until she couldn't anymore. now go run 23 miles all out and see how well you can run 10k 5 days later. she was there to compete, not just be a participant and get a finisher's medal. she's a great runner. it just didn't work out the way she or others wanted. that's just part of our sport. you just don't get it and anybody that rips her doesn't either.

A Humble Doctor Chimes In wrote:

Besides, Advil is a form of help even good food is "performance enhancing." I just think that people need to wake-up and realize that doping is not a hard thing to do and lying about it is really really easy. My wife is a Psychiatrist and you would be amazed at the level of denial of which people are capable.

1) Advil and good food aren't banned substances

2) Nobody dies from good food, and deaths and serious adverse reactions caused by Advil are rare.

3) Are you saying that anyone who performs very well or very poorly is fair game for doping accusations?

4) You do practice evidence-based medicine, don't you doc?

I hope you run better than you write...

You think that whole toss out the drug cheats thing she was doing in the past was just a way of leading us off track?

P.R. is a great runner...P.R. had a rough day running a marathon..I think she crashed and burned due to heat..and she wasnt ready to comeback to run the 10,000...However the same pride that helped her become great, hurt her today..she should not have run..P.R. will have many great days ahead..I admire her for being tough and trying to compete..she showed she is human

I said on another thread that she would not be ready to run a medal worthy performance (no genius there), and obviously she was not physically able to perform to her standard.

I think she would have been better off to just suck it up and finish, even if it would have been some pedestrian place like 10th.

I understand & agree with her giving the 10k a shot, nothing to lose, but when she looks back on this week I think at least finishing the race would have better than not finishing. It has nothing to do with being heroic. Just finish the damn race, did she really have something better to do for those 10 minutes than participate in an Olympic final and become a part of history?

How many people can say they participated in an Olympic 10k? There is a lot of positives that can be taken away from that, even if you don't medal and your name is Paula Radcliffe.

Old Man I appreciate the balance and wisdom

that I read in your posts. I concur, it was

a tough day for Paula, she will be back.

Not so old fart and sarah.....

It's all downhill for Paula..

...better get used to it...

because brits days are over!

bg