2016 Rio Olympics: Official Day 1 Live Discussion Thread

Clerk wrote:

ethiopian wrote:

Ok, as expected from LR, all the hate pouring out immediately about doping. I am not saying that I am 100% sure that she is clean, nobody knows, only she knows for sure. Why don't we just enjoy this spectacular performance and give her the benefit of the doubt, as an athlete who has never been implicated in any doping scandal and who has been performing consistently for quite some time now?

When is the right time to talk about it?

If you feel singled out, we can also talk about Huddle. Coached by the same coach as EPO doper Martin Fagan, even suspected by many of doping as early as his Providence career. Teammate of Kim Smith, who had a great career up until 2008 (the beginning of the BioPassport), in spite of health concerns like blood clots and pulmonary embolisms, consistent with EPO use...

WHO was suspected? Treacy? I didn't know most of this (if it's all true, that is).

It might be interesting to hear what Shalane has to say about this race, too.

Nothing too special. Here was 2008, 8 years ago -

2008

1 Tirunesh Dibaba (Ethiopia) 29:54.66

2 Elvan Abeylegesse (Turkey) 29:56.34

3 Shalane Flanagan (USA) 30:22.22

4 Linet Masai (Kenya) 30:26.50

5 Mariya Konovalova (Russia) 30:35.84

6 Inga Abitova (Russia) 30:37.33

7 Lucy Wangui (Kenya) 30:39.96

8 Lornah Kiplagat (Holland) 30:40.27

[10 Kara Goucher (USA) 30:55.16]

[26 Amy Begley (USA) 32:38.38]

2004

mc_truth wrote:

All the talk about how unbelievable this is, but when do we ever get to see a time trial at WR pace featuring all of the world's best athletes, who are all peaking specifically for that race, and with a rabbit who is top-5 in the world in the event? What we saw this morning was basically that -- a perfectly-paced WR attempt with a world-class rabbit, in good conditions, in a race that had all the top names in peak form. Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that the times were fast.

Considering the first time Ayana tried it competitively she ran one of the best 10Ks ever. Why is it so hard to imagine she could break the record if she trained for it?

Would there be questions around Cheruiyot for getting so close the the previous WR?

mc_truth wrote:

All the talk about how unbelievable this is, but when do we ever get to see a time trial at WR pace featuring all of the world's best athletes, who are all peaking specifically for that race, and with a rabbit who is top-5 in the world in the event? What we saw this morning was basically that -- a perfectly-paced WR attempt with a world-class rabbit, in good conditions, in a race that had all the top names in peak form. Maybe we shouldn't be so surprised that the times were fast.

I am not surprised at fast times in the Olympics.

We are surprised at how the WR, which some suspect may have been "aided," was smashed with such seemingly incredible ease, and how many women came close to that record, and surpassed times that are also suspect to some observers.

Quizzie wrote:

Because you have to be a fool by now to think something that doesn't look right is right. She has been consistently performing 30s and just dropped a minute off her PR with no rabbits and in lane 2 for most of the race. Not believable.

Not saying that it's believable, but this is only her second career 10k so she hasn't been consistently running in the 30's. Watching her run 5ks last summer I think it was pretty clear that she was able to run quicker than her debut 10k

imarunr wrote:

Man, I hope I'm wrong, but I'm afraid Molly's going to die. If she falls off, she'll be in no-woman's land BIG time.

I'm starting to suspect Molly's really not very smart.

After last year's disastrous giving away of a World's medal (a once-in-a-lifetime chance), she's about to walk herself into another huge disaster.

She could've run 30:40 today, and maybe finished 5th or 7th, and it would've been a great performance.

Now, she's gonna crash to a 31:50, probably lose to Infeld again.

Incredibly dumb. Very sad.[/quote]

Shows exactly how ignorant and foolish many of you message board members are on here. Making ignorant assumptions before the race even ended. You must feel like a fool now! Huddle just crushed the AR and ran the race of her life.[quote]sp2 wrote:

Anyone have results? The results page doesn't seem to show the 10,000 for some reason..

jflo wrote:

Ok. I do not have to watch anything else at the Olympics. This will not be topped.

Ever. Ayana ruined the Olympics for me. Bolt would have to run 18

Our sport is becoming as real as professional wrestling.

Funny that we suspect everyone now when testing (though horrible) is better than ever. Until 2013 or so, we all thought everyone was clean. Might be fewer dopers now than the 1990s but we now refuse to suspend disbelief.

So equations are not your strong suit right?

v6 wrote:

Anyone have results? The results page doesn't seem to show the 10,000 for some reason..

Scroll down below splits:

Not one mention of doping in the entire NBC broadcast. I can obviously understand that accusing or speculating about athletes in the race is unprofessional but at least you could mention the historical reality of runners who have been busted or the generally-agreed-upon belief that the 10k record that just got broken was fake...

Taking all bets now- will they even mention Aden's name during the women's 1500 prelims tonight?

Will these Olympians shower together?

But the short hair/chasing men looks optional however.

Hoping we'll see something crazy in the men's 10,000, but not likely. It'd be great to see it break wide open and not become a 400-meter sprint.

Old Ultra Guy wrote:

I am not surprised at fast times in the Olympics.

We are surprised at how the WR, which some suspect may have been "aided," was smashed with such seemingly incredible ease, and how many women came close to that record, and surpassed times that are also suspect to some observers.

The WR almost certainly was "aided" 20 years ago, it was a huge outlier, and it may well be "aided" now. My point is simply that one possible explanation for why we saw so many fast times today is that the circumstances (strength of field, conditions, pacing, peaking) were basically perfect for fast times. That is by no means proof that they are all clean, but it is an answer to the question "how is it possible that all of a sudden you see a WR and four sub-30s in one race?" that isn't "everyone is dirty."

Bannisterdoped wrote:

Funny that we suspect everyone now when testing (though horrible) is better than ever. Until 2013 or so, we all thought everyone was clean. Might be fewer dopers now than the 1990s but we now refuse to suspend disbelief.

Sure in meet testing is better... But Ethiopia is facing a potential IAAF ban because their testing is so lax. Country doesn't have much so pumping up a few people to give the country some sense of nationalism is just good politics. Crushing s record like that, and with the lack of testing she faces... It has to be viewed with suspicion, just has to under the circumstances.

Does Molly ease up at finish again? Look at the picture on the front page

chaserofsteeples wrote:

Taking all bets now- will they even mention Aden's name during the women's 1500 prelims tonight?

Of course not. A better bet would be... Can 90% of the NBC audience name a single USA T&F athlete?

I'd hit the max on no. NBC is broadcasting to the masses, not the 75 track geeks who know who Aden is. Track geeks complaining about coverage have zero understanding of business.