Johnny Gray, that longevity was superhuman. Second choice would be Seb Coe, to learn whether the 1:41 (and that whole UK middle-distance generation) was legit.
I would NEVER use the power on Rudisha or Bolt, even if I got a thousand uses. I'm don't have any illusions about PED use in this sport but I choose to remain naive about those two. I don't want my memories of watching 9.69 and 1:40.9 live tainted
Just curious as to why there is any suspicion re: D'Amato? Is that based solely on her improving so dramatically after years away from competition? I get it - her comeback was totally unexpected and bucks all sorts of odds. But she has no affiliation with dirty coaches, hasn't popped any positive A or B samples, and hasn't really run that incredibly fast relative to current US women (aside from some solid times using super shoes, which would appear to impact the longer road distances quite a bit).
Why? Running those times at her age and balancing a home life, with the non-productive years before she turned it on.
So your basis is really just "because she has run fast times at an older age after a prolonged period of time off." Objectively speaking, she's progressed at a reasonable rate since she jumped back on the scene in what, 2019? She stayed healthy, started running well again at about 35-36, and has progressed steadily during the few years since then. Subtract the 4% from super shoes, and her times aren't eye popping. Main point is that there really isn't any smoke there other than the late start in life.... But I hear where you're coming from.
For a more contemporary pick, everyone at OAC. They're even more secretive about their training than bowerman is and its not crazy to think that a former NOP athlete would use the same tactics as his now disgraced coach.
Im just...how stupid are you? Some of the OAC athletes put ALL their workouts on Strava.
Geb. If he did I'd keep it to myself and remain devastated.
Learning someone like Geb, Belele, or Tergat testing positive would basically tar their whole country like any eastern block runner. I suppose Faith should be on this list also...
There's no way Tergat was clean. If you pick the bones out of his training schedule he was basically running at MP or quicker, at altitude, day in, day out. Nobody's managing 120m a week at that intensity without breaking, without help recovering.
One choice....... Geb. I'd hope he was clean, but it might turn out that his perma-smile was because he knew he couldn't be caught! Also I presume given that it would cover all parts of his career we'd finally get an answer as to how old he actually is!!
Johnny Gray, that longevity was superhuman. Second choice would be Seb Coe, to learn whether the 1:41 (and that whole UK middle-distance generation) was legit.
I would NEVER use the power on Rudisha or Bolt, even if I got a thousand uses. I'm don't have any illusions about PED use in this sport but I choose to remain naive about those two. I don't want my memories of watching 9.69 and 1:40.9 live tainted
I would go for Bolt, simply because he’s the Goat. (His 100m pb ++). And if he was clean (my first guesses -but based on almost nothing admittedly) authority to my view on achievements or progression as bull as markers for doping would increase substantially… Not that this is all that is needed -we can still extrapolate from Elliot and Snell and Ryun (their doping options fairly limited -amphetamine not that suitable) to El Guerrouj (good, but not sensational good relative speaking)…
I wouldn’t cast away my magical boost ability on Jakob. -Pretty sure he’s clean. (The Norwegian regime of even using a portable testing wagon during covid to keep up isn’t that important to me -athletes may have their contra measurements, according to experienced scientists -my view is based on repeated sayings from Jakob: That his dream is to realise and unveil his potential to see what it is! And my interpretation of his words is this: He’s not here to see how fast dope can run. And his sayings of “becoming the greatest ever” doesn’t (in my reading) mean that he sees his times never being beaten in the 1500m. -He has discovered a possibility to be the one to break El Guerrouj’s and Komen’s and Cheptegei’s records (and that would indeed make him the greatest ever); not because of a freak talent, but because he knows how to train and getting his potential out… And the Worlds and Olympics are of course important, but not per se; I’m pretty sure he doesn’t want to win the 5000m because of being the best 1500m runner in the field, nor the 1500m because somebody acted as a rabbit. I think he regards the how he wins the championships (by pure dominance and revelation of potential -simply being the best, and not the guy with the best day, luck, tactics or team mates) as fare more important than the golds in them selves… And I think he’s quite aware of himself being a marginal talent in the 1500m, and can live very well by a new WR breaking athlete in the event f.ex a year after he himself permanently has moved up in distances (post setting the 1500m / mile WRs himself)…
I wouldn’t waste my one time doping insight on El Guerrouj or Lagat or Cheptegei or Bekele or Kiplimo or Kipchoge. -None of them have to be dirty -they can simply be better talents than Jakob (if considered more impressive than him, in some distances, essentially everything being adjusted for better shoes / tracks an so on)…
Conclusion: One doping / none doping assertion isn’t enough -we need a lot. And maybe we then would se fare more doping than expected. But maybe also some unexpected clean….
This post was edited 2 minutes after it was posted.
Just curious as to why there is any suspicion re: D'Amato? Is that based solely on her improving so dramatically after years away from competition? I get it - her comeback was totally unexpected and bucks all sorts of odds. But she has no affiliation with dirty coaches, hasn't popped any positive A or B samples, and hasn't really run that incredibly fast relative to current US women (aside from some solid times using super shoes, which would appear to impact the longer road distances quite a bit).
I'd not be as skeptical if her dramatic improvement didn't happen during covid and a long period of no testing. Here's a good on it as well. And I have no clue about her coach tbh, but Raczko trained and learned under John Cook who has NOP ties.
Just curious as to why there is any suspicion re: D'Amato? Is that based solely on her improving so dramatically after years away from competition? I get it - her comeback was totally unexpected and bucks all sorts of odds. But she has no affiliation with dirty coaches, hasn't popped any positive A or B samples, and hasn't really run that incredibly fast relative to current US women (aside from some solid times using super shoes, which would appear to impact the longer road distances quite a bit).
I'd not be as skeptical if her dramatic improvement didn't happen during covid and a long period of no testing. Here's a good on it as well. And I have no clue about her coach tbh, but Raczko trained and learned under John Cook who has NOP ties.
Simple and reasonable answer to the lower mileage is that she cross trains a bunch... rowing machine, etc. There's no doubt that although that's less common, there are plenty of benefits to be gained from alternative aerobic training. To put it optimistically, it sounds like she found her groove in terms of what training volume and intensity her body could handle without breaking down, and then supplemented with cross training. Again, the 4% super shoes are worth 5 mins over a marathon... so her converted 2:24 is very solid but nothing groundbreaking. She was a legit top talent in hs then dealt with injuries.
FYI - that article's comparison to Eddy H is total b.s. I raced against Eddy back in the early 2000s and even overlapped with him Albuquerque for a little while. There was a TON of smoke surrounding him and the runners he trained with and boarded at his house. Eddy raced back to back nearly every weekend and his recovery rate was noted with suspicion by everyone who raced against him. Eddy was a known slimeball. Apples to oranges comparison... no similarities other than success at an "older" age.
Familiar with Razcko as well. That guy doesn't have the connections or the resources to systematically dope anyone haha.
Lastly, valid point about no testing in 2020... but she's been tested plenty since then and no trace of PEDs to date.
Again though, I understand the suspicion. Sadly, that's our sport.
Learning someone like Geb, Belele, or Tergat testing positive would basically tar their whole country like any eastern block runner. I suppose Faith should be on this list also...
There's no way Tergat was clean. If you pick the bones out of his training schedule he was basically running at MP or quicker, at altitude, day in, day out. Nobody's managing 120m a week at that intensity without breaking, without help recovering.
One choice....... Geb. I'd hope he was clean, but it might turn out that his perma-smile was because he knew he couldn't be caught! Also I presume given that it would cover all parts of his career we'd finally get an answer as to how old he actually is!!
Raises a interesting potential quandary with Haile, if proven to be cheating later in the his career: If he was doping, BUT ran 2:03:59/58:55 at, say 49 (he certainly looked it!), what do we think of him THEN ???
There's no way Tergat was clean. If you pick the bones out of his training schedule he was basically running at MP or quicker, at altitude, day in, day out. Nobody's managing 120m a week at that intensity without breaking, without help recovering.
One choice....... Geb. I'd hope he was clean, but it might turn out that his perma-smile was because he knew he couldn't be caught! Also I presume given that it would cover all parts of his career we'd finally get an answer as to how old he actually is!!
Raises a interesting potential quandary with Haile, if proven to be cheating later in the his career: If he was doping, BUT ran 2:03:59/58:55 at, say 49 (he certainly looked it!), what do we think of him THEN ???
And cheating, or not, when you can stand on starting line after starting line with the Kenyan A Team determined to beat you and you STILL have a huge smile on your face.....gotta love it.
