The dirtiest race in Olympic history?

Im assuming missBS was joking, unless he/she was throwing the slowest race ever out there as an example of a dirty race?

We get it. But you have to admit a final 8 deep in eastern block and soviet countries that have institutional doping is probably worse? No americans, aussies, west germans, japanese, chinese, canadian, french, english, or africans could crack the top 8? I firmly believe those races were 100% PEDS, now maybe some degree less.

Well, sure, it would be hard to argue that any major race was ever DIRTIER than one of those all-Eastern Bloc women's finals - because it's hard to beat 100% dirty. Though boycotts might have also assisted them in garnering all the places in the finals.

But I've got to think there were some 5000m and 10000m men's races in the '90s where EPO was used by all or almost all of the top 10 or 15 runners, so that would be a similar situation to the steroid-fueled women's events of the 70s/80s.

Jakob's lack of a kick at the end of his global 1500m finals must mean he's super clean then.

#1 in a long list of reasons not to like Khalid Skah

The dirtiest? Any race that Kenyans are in, especially Obiri and Kipyegon

Drug cheat Decker, yes maybe.

Riiight, 2012 1500m. As opposed to the ‘24 1500m where top 4 went under the olympic record and 11 were sub 3:32!

Wild, right? It really shows how deep the doping issue ran. Dobriskey deserved better—imagine training your whole life and only getting justice years later.

The 2016 women's 800m needs to be up there. Maybe not the "dirtiest" in terms of doping, but there were three men on the podium. If Seb Coe had any guts he would give Melissa Bishop her rightfully deserved gold medal.

The sad reality is that if you had just asked me to name the dirtiest race in history, I don't think this would even have registered/been on a list - and yet as is pointed out at least half of the top 10 finishers were caught and had their results wiped. That says something.

Also the reference to the massive, state of the art testing lab that conducted a mammoth 5000 tests over just 16 days - with 8 positives. If you ever needed evidence how now matter how wishfully you want to think, cheats and the people who enable them will always be considerably far head of the testers. Slightly depressing if you want to face that reality.

Yeah no matter which way you want to slice it, clean biological woman at birth athletes have really had it the roughest - by a considerable margin. Bishop is a heartbreaking example.

The 1988 Olympic men's 100m. According to the book The Dirtiest Race in History, every finalist except Calvin Smith was dirty. Excellent book, btw.

I'll go with the 1972 sprint races as potential candidates - it was, after all, the last Olympics without a steroid test.

Jay Silvester made that anonymous survey of Olympic athletes from eight countries, 68% of them admitted - admitted! - to using steroids.

At the rate it's going, Morgan Uceny might regret dropping out after getting tripped. Could have snagged a bronze in a few years.

The 8 Eastern block athletes in 1976 800m final were certainly doped to the teeth, but your argumentation is rather shaky too:

1) In 1976 there was no West German athlete among the 35 participants. And even if there was, West Germany also had a state sponsored doping program in the 1970’s

2) No Japanese participant either. Japan has never been competitive in that event: between 1960 and 2024 only two Japanese participated in the 800m (in 1964 and 2004) and both were eliminated in the heats.

3) PR China didn’t participate to the Olympic games until 1984, so obviously no Chinese competitor in 1976. And the Chinese state sponsored program from the 1990’ onwards has nothing to envy the Russian one.

4) No French participant either in 1976.

5) Almost all African countries boycotted the 1976 Olympics. Africans were anyway not really competitive at that time in the women 800m, the first to reach a final was Maria Mutola in 1992.

france24.com

Report exposes decades of West German doping

https://www.facebook.com/FRANCE24.English

The West German government helped fund a wide-scale doping programme from the 1970s onwards, with evidence of drug use among the country’s athletes stretching back to the 1950s, according to a leaked…

Open link

London 2012 women's 800m final:

1)Savinova confirmed Russian doper

2) Semenya confirmed DSD

3) Poistogova confirmed Russian doper

4) Jelimo ?? (her strange career ended once DSD rules got implemented)

5) Montano

6) Arzhakova confirmed Russian doper

7) Niyonsaba confirmed DSD

8) Jepkosgei

Between 2010-2013 the legit female top tier talents like Alysia Montano, Janeth Jepkosgei and also Jenny Meadows, Kenia Sinclair had to compete against Russian dopers and African males at the top level, year after year.

Then came the height of the DSD era of 2015-2018

Rio 2016 women's 800m where Bishop was denied a medal by 3 DSDs and Ajee Wilson denied a place in the final by drawing a semifinal with DSD Wambui and DSD Niyonsaba (DSD Ajok might have been in there too but she was generally less troublesome / not a world beater)

The worst part of this disaster is that the dopers likely cost Shannon Rowbury a small fortune. Doping = theft.