Mo Farah launches astonishing attack on media - 'You're trying to destroy everything I have achieved' and 'I want to

rojo wrote:

I think Farah is a smart guy. He needs to think as this next phase a new career. Viewing it as a new challenge will keep him young. If he thinks about the past, there will be a tendency to maybe want to go back to the track.

I said before the Worlds I thought either Bolt or Farah would come back to the track. Now I'm not so sure. I think them going out in defeat may be good for them in the sense that it's easier not to wonder if you should come back.

Eaton is coming back, that I can tell you

makesense wrote:

rojo wrote:

I think Farah is a smart guy. He needs to think as this next phase a new career. Viewing it as a new challenge will keep him young. If he thinks about the past, there will be a tendency to maybe want to go back to the track.

I said before the Worlds I thought either Bolt or Farah would come back to the track. Now I'm not so sure. I think them going out in defeat may be good for them in the sense that it's easier not to wonder if you should come back.

Oh I get it. So because he attacks the media he's a great guy, he's smart. All he needs to do now is say 'fake news' and 'sad'.

I think it's more that thing athletes do to pump themselves up: "No one believes in me, so I'll show them!" "Someone criticized me, so I'll show them!" etc., etc. You see it all the time in athlete interviews and coaches do it all the time with "bulletin board material."

mobot wrote:

Revealing he wanted to be known as Mohamed rather than Mo in future, he added: “My road name is Mohamed and I just feel like Mo is done. I need to forget about what I’ve achieved and what I’ve done.”

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/athletics/2017/08/13/mo-farah-launches-astonishing-attack-media-trying-destroy/

It was Nike who suggested (strongly requested) that Mohamed shorten his name to "Mo" for marketing purposes. Now that he has achieved athletic fame he is free to go back to his preferred name Mohamed. You will not see much Nike involvement with him in the future. Mo has made his money with Nike and will become a Free Agent and will most likely be switching to another shoe company before starting his road racing career.

ggilder wrote:

The essence of a witch-hunt

"Witch-hunt"? Was it a witch-hunt all those years before the truth finally did come out on Lance? And if your answer is 'yes', George, does that mean you would just rather see drug discussion, let alone the theatrical attempts at their control, removed from sports?

I'm more than willing to criticize Mo or any other athlete. In Mo's case there are all sorts of shady characters and suspicions around him.I just don't think a clear denial (or even lack of) is a fair grounds to criticize an athlete on. They can deny they ever used PEDs and either they are lying or everybody will assume they are lying. If they don't clearly deny using PEDs then everybody says they are guilty because they didn't deny it clearly enough. Which again puts it back on the athlete to demonstrate innocence and all they can fall back on is passing drug tests. Which is all they have (and not sufficient to establish anything). I honestly don't think there is any way a statement from the athlete goes any way to establishing innocence, so I'm not sure why they bother. It's a no win situation for the athletes.

Very directly wrote:

What he actually said is. “I have never taken performance enhancing drugs in my life and I never will,” Farah said. “Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative."

He immediately qualified his never taken to mean every single test has been negative.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Yes, he has. Many times. Very clearly and directly.

I'm not saying that he is clean, because goodness knows many other athletes have declared that they haven't used PEDs and been busted.

BUTTHOLE SURFER wrote:

It was Nike who suggested (strongly requested) that Mohamed shorten his name to "Mo" for marketing purposes.

Mo is listed as Mo in race results before he was with Nike.

How you "see it" make no difference at all. Farah has a long history of obscuring the truth. Not that someone like you could understand. Like Farah neither of you can admit there is anything you do not know. PS. I await your ban of my IP.

uhhh, dooood wrote:

[quote]ggilder wrote: "Witch-hunt"? Was it a witch-hunt all those years before the truth finally did come out on Lance? And if your answer is 'yes', George, does that mean you would just rather see drug discussion, let alone the theatrical attempts at their control, removed from sports?

Lance's case was very different, as the press celebrated him unstintingly. In any case, the drug charges were infrequent until the last years.

In the era after Lance changed the entire environment, Farah has been under constant scrutiny. The focus on failure to answer one of hundreds of doorbell rings, or denounce his coaches, or on his allegedly incriminating performances (coming in third in a rabbited 3:28 was well within the ken of his racing finishes), or his inadequate achievement of world records, or whatever is the smear of the day, fail to justify the verbal lynching he gets here.

Unincriminating too are his links to coaches such as Salazar who themselves have been charged chiefly with ambiguous trivia compared with Lance's haystacks of needles and illegal injections. Aden is more relevant to drug charges, but again it is a link, an association, falling under the sociological rule of six links to reach the world.

Championship running and coaching is a small circle and pretty much anyone can be linked. Under an inquisition, anyone will look "dodgy." That's what makes it a witch-hunt and the charges impossible to answer. And the virulence of attacks on him today, mostly for obvious misquotes and twisted interpretations, was wildly disproportionate to the actual story in the Telegraph.

The other difference between Lance and Farah is that Lance was almost always training with his team. Farah has always been a training drifter.

800ftw. wrote:

Out of all the athletes with missed tests, Farah was the one who was paraded around and shamed.

It was very difficult to see that as anything other than a witch hunt. And since hard to take the British written press' wicked whispers without a huge pinch of salt.

Farah does have a long history of obscuring the truth and it is more than fair to criticize him for that.He has also come out and said he has never done drugs. He may well be lying about that. I am just curious as to what exactly he could say that would make you think he hasn't done drugs? There is very likely nothing he could say that would change my opinion one bit. I suspect it is the same for you and just about everybody else.

Very directly wrote:

How you "see it" make no difference at all. Farah has a long history of obscuring the truth. Not that someone like you could understand. Like Farah neither of you can admit there is anything you do not know.

Mr. Obvious wrote:

Farah does have a long history of obscuring the truth and it is more than fair to criticize him for that.

He has also come out and said he has never done drugs.

As expected. You give someone who has a history of obscuring the truth a pass because of a claim they made.

PSS. Now awaiting your collecting new IP info.

The problem with Mo is his relative, unimpressive start on the world scene. Farah is very unique in that sense. He was never a great finisher. So, in a very short time he went from not a great finisher to, perhaps, the greatest finisher of all time. Prior to 2010 he never really had great speed. You can go back and watch any of the numerous WC races and see this and then he goes out and runs 3:28. Farah substantially improved in every area that, it would seem, he had the least likely chance of improving - mainly his speed.

I can't believe you're normalising his 3.28.

Of all his performances since his 'rebirth', that raised my eyebrows higher than any other.

That's faster than a lot of seriously good milers... and he showed nothing of that ability in his younger years. It wasn't even his main event! How fast would he have gone if he was training solely for the 1500? 3.27? 3.26? It's ridiculous.

Farah certainly seems to be having second thoughts about his meteoric career. He seems to want to hide from everyone and pretend it never happened. He might decide to go into full-time seclusion, like a hermit.

He's probably juicing but imagine the pain of answering these questions over and over if you're legit.

It sucks the joy from it.

Mo, shut the hell up. And run a marathon ASAP. Bring your water boy Rupp with you, too, so you can epic fail with a high 2:07, and he can crack the 2:09 barrier and be thrilled.

So what if he's doping.

Surely he should be forgiven like Gatlin and anyone booing him criticised.

Why on earth does he, and everyone else, want him to hit the roads?

He should run a season of pure, even-paced 1500s. His 1500 best is way above his marathon best.