The emperor has no clothes: Jemima Sumgong has tested positive for EPO!!!

I find it amazing that there are still people over age 30 who are still "saddened" and "disappointed" with the latest drug bust.

When EPO hit in the early 1990s and all the records and top 50 lists were completely rewritten, it was so obvious what was happening. The Italian agents (Rosa & Canova) had shifted to Africans with this exciting new drug. To the gullible they started talking about "new" and "modern" post Lydiard training methods and the young and naive ate it up with gusto.

EPO works better than steroids and there was no EPO testing of any kind for a long time. Even with testing it is much harder to catch someone on steroids than EPO.

When Lagat got away with it, then the floodgates really burst open. The message was take as much as you want, only a fool gets caught and even if you get caught, if you are a really nice guy and really popular with a great smile and are a superstar (think Lagat, Mo Farah and Bolt), they will sweep it under the rug.

I have been a high school and college coach and I still absolutely love the sport at the college level and high school level. For me the NCAA is the pinnacle of the sport. The pros/Diamond League/Olympics/WCs have been for decades for me reduced to just a curiosity. They are like a circus side show or a magician's act. You don't know what you are watching or what it means but it is competition so mildly entertaining. It is not something you would ever spend any time thinking about or analyzing or really caring about in any way.

Another watershed moment was when Buff Coach Mark Wetmore attended the WC with his athlete Adam Goucher. Thet statements he made were roundly criticized at the time but they were completely accurate and summed up what had happened to the sport at the pro level. After watching Canova's steeple guy playfully fartlek his way to an absurdly fast win and then watching Haile G AND HIS Training Partner run the second half of the 10000 in 12:57 Wetmore declared: "The performances I saw were impossible". Why didn't you listen to him WEJO and company and why are you just figuring it out now?

Ndmdkzksk wrote:

Do you want to rethink your position on Paula Radcliffe now?

What does an outed Kenyan drug cheat have to do with Paula Radcliffe. UKAD and IAAF have said that Paula has "no case to answer" about doping accusations. Even her wikipedia article has that quote. I'm surprised none of you losers has changed that yet.

Jemima is African, and got caught in a lie.

Paula is British, and a hero, and doesn't lie.

Even the Brojos are smart enough to realize the difference.

rojo wrote:

If this holds up, Dr. Gabriela Rosa, lied to my freaking face.

No offense, but lying to your freaking face is the least of his concerns if this holds up.

Carl Lewis and Company. Most of that 1984 track team was dirty. And let's not forget Flojo in 1988. How she tested "clean" is beyond me.

ROIDnato CaCERA wrote:

There's still a good chance Sumgong's B sample will be "mishandled" and get her off, like epic cheat Lagat. But those who care to know the truth will know the truth.

No need to lie on what happened with Lagat. All well documented.

Has Jon Orange chimed in yet?

I like her pancakes and syrup !

They stopped taking three months off each year. But if you want to see the effect, compare Spanish and Moroccan running 20 years ago to today, compared to Kenyan and Ethiopian running 20 years ago to today.

Whoever told you that is clueless.

What happens to those NCAA Champions the next week?

I would equate Coach Wetmore's statement with those experienced and successful coaches of the early part of the 20th Century who stated firmly that it was impossible for a man to run a mile under four minutes.

ah yes,paula.the marita koch of long distance running.....marita was clean,as well ;)

"Jemima is African, and got caught in a lie.

Paula is British, and a hero, and doesn't lie."

the great country of Africa. next time, think before you write.

i think epo gains in running are much greater than that,unless youre only using very low doses.the gains are probably more like a 7 minute improvement in the marathon,one and a half minutes in the 10'000 meters,and perhaps 40 seconds in the 5000.apparently sumgong went from being a 2.29 runner,to a 2.20 runner on her epo.

above_average_joe wrote:

"Jemima is African, and got caught in a lie.

Paula is British, and a hero, and doesn't lie."

the great country of Africa. next time, think before you write.

Great Britain refers to geographical area, as does Africa. Great Britain is not a country either, so the aforementioned comparison is appropriate. shut up

But no media darlings apart from Slaney and Asafa have ever been reported to fail a test with subsequent DQ. Media darlings would be the likes of Bolt, Adams-Vili, Radcliffe, C Freeman, The Eatons, J Ennis-Hill, SAFP, VCB, E Thompson, Schippers, Mo Greene, Isinbayeva, Lavillenie... Absolutely not claiming the above are suspect (well nota llof them) but a media star rarely fails a doping test...

rojo wrote:

rojo wrote:

Letting a high profile gold medalist get caught is clearly not their usual MO.

That's one accusation I've never really understood. We've had busts of Ben Johnson, the Russians, Mary Slaney, Justin Gatlin and more. Lots of high profile people.

Now could there be others that weren't announced? I guess it's possible.

But no media darlings apart from Slaney and Asafa have ever been reported to fail a test with subsequent DQ. Media darlings would be the likes of Bolt, Adams-Vili, Radcliffe, C Freeman, The Eatons, J Ennis-Hill, SAFP, VCB, E Thompson, Schippers, Mo Greene, Isinbayeva, Lavillenie... Absolutely not claiming the above are suspect (well nota llof them) but a media star rarely fails a doping test...

Read more:

It amazes me that there at still people without a personal connection to Lagat, that are still holding onto the Lagat fantasy today. You have to believe that at age 42, you can be better much, much better (e.g. 13:00 vs 13:37) than were at age 23 and competing in the NCAA and despite years of training and being in your prime years of mid 20s, you are losing to 20 and 21 year old Americans like Jon Riley. People like Mr. Wigand either don't understand human physiology or are living in some sort of parallel universe.

Jeff Wigand wrote:

ROIDnato CaCERA wrote:

There's still a good chance Sumgong's B sample will be "mishandled" and get her off, like epic cheat Lagat. But those who care to know the truth will know the truth.

No need to lie on what happened with Lagat. All well documented.

The period of:

1.Diuretics

2.HGH

3. Destroying positive results. Remember the 84 Games.

Congratulations, Track and Field! You are now just as dirty as professional cycling, MLB, NFL, etc. Not that this surprises anyone how looks at the sport honestly.

Why So Late To The Game wrote:

I find it amazing that there are still people over age 30 who are still "saddened" and "disappointed" with the latest drug bust.

...

I have been a high school and college coach and I still absolutely love the sport at the college level and high school level. For me the NCAA is the pinnacle of the sport. The pros/Diamond League/Olympics/WCs have been for decades for me reduced to just a curiosity.

I want to believe runners are clean so yes the news does sadden me. The truth is, and I can only speak for myself, I haven't got the faintest idea which people are cheating and which aren't. There are some I trust partly based on gut instinct and in some cases having seen them come up through the ranks. Dave Moorcroft springs to mind, but if someone came along and knocked 6s off the 5k WR everyone now would cast doubt on it. Steve Jones who was the first world class runner I ever saw in action. Some later records I disbelieve; to me it is inconceivable that someone could effectively half lap Moorcroft.

The times run on the track by the Africans at 5k/10k are not what they were a few years ago. Does that mean they are more honest? Or playing safe because the testing has moved on so much? Or just that we ran out of the really exceptional guys? No idea and I doubt anyone posting here actually knows.

Bingo, exactly...... 100% correct.

Bottom line, any time big money is involved in an activity people are going to cheat......end of story.

Sad part is that there are some clean athletes out there, it is just very hard to identify them today in the current environment.

Getting harder and harder to take Track and Field, or running in general very seriously.