Hellebuyck is racing and stealing prize money

Sounds like what they said about Liza Hunter-Galvan. "Oh, she's a nice person. She'd never dope."

ghost-

i don't dispute the fact that Benoit is a great guy, but saying his neighbors liked him hardly proves his innocence in his drug bust. you say he was cleared, but you can't post a link? what, did you just clear him yourself? and yes, he was talented, but name one drug user who wasn't? you're arguments all seem to be lacking facts. do you believe facts aren't real, so therefore they aren't necessary?

fact- Eddy H. cheated.

fact- Benoit Z. had his house raided and a ton of drugs uncovered.

fact- Benoit Z. and Eddy H. have been a non-factor on the running scene since.

i would love for you to provide some evidence clearing Benoit, but you have yet to do so.

Non factor?

Eddy has won 3 xc girls titles in 07/08/09 5A2.

Xc boys in 09

track boys and girls in 09.

6 total state titles since he joined the coaching staff.

Paranormal Activity wrote:

fact- Eddy H. cheated.

How do you know?

'Eddy has won 3 xc girls titles in 07/08/09 5A2'

Well taking EPO is one thing, but dressing up a a teenage girl - that really is taking cheating too far!

You lot make me want to hurl. So athletes that have never taken drugs - are all cheaters, all those EA's on EPO every good time supected - but we can let our kids be coached by a runner who has been proven to have used drugs because he acts like a nice guy

How do I know? Gosh, how do you know Marion Jones cheated? Oh, right, good point, she says she didn't... So I guess Eddy didn't either, right? This is exactly why Dwain Chambers rocks. I think it is called having a spine. You should look into getting one.

I would find it a lot easier to forgive him if his records weren't still staring me in the face when I go to USATF. How can USATF say they are taking drugs cheats to task if they don't clear their records?

kick that little fvcker in the nuts.

Click on this link and you will read (in French) that Benoit Z. was absolutely of any wrongdoing with regard to illegal products, as was Hassan Al Idrissi, a famous coach and recruiter in the Marseille region.

http://www.sport.fr/athletisme/ath/Perquisition-au-domicile-de-Benoit-Z-46986.shtm

We always suspected that Benoit was innocent. He is too honest a guy to resort to cheating. This was ingrained during his childhood, when he grew up in a small town on the Belgian-French border - a coal mining region with tough, no nonsense people who inhabit that region, many of them descendents of Poles who came to the region to work in the mines, as was the family of Benoit....note the name. He comes from a tough, working class background. His toilet was an outhouse until his late teens.

The fact that Benoit trained in Albuquerque and rented a flat from Eddy Hellebuyck does not implicate him either. And in fact, Benoit and Eddy had a bit of a 'falling out' when Benoit elected to be trained by Dr Rosa and Pat Porter - two honorable gentleman well respected in the running world. Dr Rosa considered Benoit to be one of the most talented white men he had ever trained - a real diesel runner. But Benoit was too much of a maverick to stay for any length of time with any single coach, and floated around with a lot of different people, and then decided that he would do best by being self coached.

Even during the FFA training camps, Benoit did his own thing, and because of the antipathy between him and Driss El Himer (another French 2:06 guy) - the two guys had to train seperately and eat at different tables, lest the fireworks fly.

Benoit was chill with the money and bennies, but Driss, according to reports, always wanted more, and did not take kindly to Benoit getting the lion's share of the limelight, following the magnificent performance in the Paris Marathon, when Benoit tied the record of the Portuguese -Pinto - another man suspected of drug use, but cleared. Pinto ran well on litres of red wine, and has branched out into that sector, post running career.

Benoit made a comeback of sorts last automn, running the Marseille marathon and winning in 2:25 - not a good time, but it was a comeback race, and it was run in very inclement conditions.

Benoit has converted to the Islam religion (Mashallah!Al Hamdullilah!) and Islam is a religion of peace and honesty where cheating is abhorred and condemned by the great one -Allah. This is not proof, but his religion permanently keeps him in check for any errant behaviour. It is a religion of permanent self control and discipline, and ideally suited to our vocation.

It is easy to create rumours about people, but Benoit was never worried by the justice system, and nothing was ever found in his flat, on the rue de Notre Dame, in Marseille, a place where Benoit has invited visitors on numerous occasions. He is a good man, salt of the earth.

Ghost in Saudi,

www.kfupm.edu.sa

, apply today

Ghost, wtf is wrong with you. Now I'm thinking that you are nothing more than a troll (albeit a very convincing one): his Islamic religion keeps him in check?? You must be joking. Yeah, because the Moroccans never juiced, right? I adore your naivete.

My French reading skills are pretty poor, but I don't see how that article can be interpreted to mean that Benoit was absolved of any wrongdoing.

I just read your defense of the Turkish drug cheat on another thread. I haven't noticed your posts in the past, so I don't know what your connection to these people is, but your comments about the efficacy of doping and the character of some of these liars and cheats are, to my ears, very bizarre.

this is the big one wrote:

seeing as how you have to get permission to use public roads for your race, you cannot practice racial discrimination.

I wonder about this. The Klan can hold a rally and parade. Would they have to allow the NAACP to march as well?

F*** YOU GUYS...EVERYBODY IS EPO NOT ONLY EDDY, ....MEB, RYAN, DATHAN, ALAN,LAGAT, THE ARE ALL TAKING DRUGS. PLEASE LEAVE EDDY ALONE

Translation:

Marathoner Benoît Zwierzchiewski, aka "Benoît Z," was held at the police station ["placé en garde à vue"--French law allows police to keep suspects up to 24 hours] for a few hours regarding a case of presumed trafficking of doping products.

The investigation that was started more than a year ago by the Rouen DA's office regarding the dismantling of the presumed drug trafficking bounces back in Marseille. Co-holder of the European marathon record (2:06:36), French citizen Benoît Zwierzchiewski was held in the office of the Marseille drug squad before being released. The search made in his apartment didn't return any results.

The marathoner was heard by the central office of drug law enforcement (OCTRIS). His arraignment happened in relation to the same judicial investigation that involved two middle-distance runners (Mounir Yemmouni amd Rachid Chékémani) and their coach (Hassan el-Idrissi) in March 2005. Held at the police station for 48 hours, they were also released. No further indictment was made.

If I read the articles in "L'Equipe" correctly (from October 2005 and April 2007), no illegal drugs were found in Benoit's apartment, so he was not indicted for drug trafficking, but drug testing conducted on his body following the search of his apartment found traces of the anabolic steroid methyltestosterone. Am I reading this correctly?

http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/20051019_175337Dev.html

http://www.lequipe.fr/Athletisme/20070413_192819Dev.html

Correct. In the end the case was declared a "non-lieu," that is, no ground for prosecution.

However L'Equipe writes that Benoît's hair was collected and analyzed during his detention and that it revealed traces of methyltestosterone, an anabolic steroid.

He was not indicted though as this procedure isn't recognized for doping control. Also, bear in mind that drug laws are different in France. « Le fait pour un sportif de se doper n'est pas une infraction, mais le fait d'inciter au dopage, oui »--Doping per se is not an infraction; incitement to use drugs is.

That Eddy guy beats me in the races, and my drugs don't seem to be working very well, therefore he is a cheat!

Pete,

Defend yourself here. This poster is calling you a drug cheat like Eddy.

With regard to the methyltestosterone found in his hair, Benoit Z. was able to argue, successfully, that he produces this naturally.

The case was rapidly dismissed, and rumor has it that Benoit was framed by people with nefarious intentions.

In any case, this case, had no effect in France, and Benoit remains a hero. A pity that his form has not been the same.

One feels, that Benoit, having started training very seriously at a young age (late teens) has suffered to some extent from a form of burnout.

He was doing sessions at age 18 that perhaps were too much for his body at the time, and although he produced brilliant results, it is logical that his window of durability as a runner, long term, will be shortened.

Now, Benoit, is trying to get back to his former level, but with injuries plaguing him on a regular basis, it might be difficult for him to get back to his Paris marathon superlative form.

Driss El Himer, also, never re produced the same form which saw him go under 2:07 in the Paris marathon. He has won multiple French cross country titles, but in most international races, Driss's big problem is his impulsiveness and unwillingness to hold back in the early stages of races. This usually results in a 'blow up' performance for Driss.

But Driss is a great example to all the magreb youth who live in the ghettos on the outskirts of every French city. Those places are 'no go' areas for most people, and even the police and gendarmes rarely venture there - as the danger of attack is so real there. Typically when the squad cars go through those areas, they are subjected to rocks being thrown from the high rise apartments, and other attacks from the frustrated youth, who feel, justifiably, a dilemma in their life - they feel that they are neither completely French or Arab - so they suffer from an identity crisis. This is compounded by racial discrimination from French employers who often throw Arab name resumes (c.v.'s ) in the garbage. In addition, if you are a French of arab descent, and walk in town, chances are good that you will be frisked by the police. This creates tension and rage in the long run.

In France the concept of political correctness is much less developed compared with the Anglo countries.

A sad reality, which has not been aided by Sarkozy, who has little sympathy for the plight of the ghetto disenfranchised people. Forgive the digression.

Ghost in Saudi,

www.kfupm.edu.sa

, apply today.