Sorry to burst your bubble, but Bikila was a professional bodyguard to the emperor Haile Selassie. He was trained full-time (by a Swedish military advisor to the Ethiopians) to gain revenge for Selassie over the Italians at the 1960 Rome Olympics - Italy having conquered Selassie's country only 20 years previously.
It was a nice story, him being an innocent African villager who did not know what shoes were and who had only run to and from school, but not quite the truth. Seems a big stretch to me to believe that Selassie would not have had him doped to win.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but Bikila was a professional bodyguard to the emperor Haile Selassie. He was trained full-time (by a Swedish military advisor to the Ethiopians) to gain revenge for Selassie over the Italians at the 1960 Rome Olympics - Italy having conquered Selassie's country only 20 years previously.
It was a nice story, him being an innocent African villager who did not know what shoes were and who had only run to and from school, but not quite the truth. Seems a big stretch to me to believe that Selassie would not have had him doped to win.
Ironically you’ve chosen a load of athletes who are barely tested, as they exist in the zone where their countries are not under scrutiny and they’re not good enough to warrant AIU RTP monitoring. Just an observation.
How does a post like this get upvoted so much? So it's ironic that the OP chooses athletes from countries that are 'not under scrutiny'? Maybe he has the same non-biased and rational point-of-view as WADA and the AIU?
my first coach a pole vaulter Canadian record holder said steroids were floating around when he was competiting in 1960. i forget the buzz word he used.
he's passed now, knew coaches worldwide, and i share stories from time to time here.
mexico city 1968 ucla and college guys were roided out in the sprints for example.
these kind of things get down voted, as people can only judge from their truman show location.
and regarding training, you better believe they trained theiir azz off back in the day.
Literally any Japanese marathoner. Cheating would bring such shame upon one’s family in their culture that they would never risk it.
This is why they have so many 2:05-2:10 marathons but not the outlier 2:00-2:03 that african countries do, because they won’t go the extra mile in taking drugs.
The argument that cultural shame (or religious values or whatever) would stop athletes doping doesn't hold water. WADA says doping is everywhere, in all countries and in all sports.
Literally any Japanese marathoner. Cheating would bring such shame upon one’s family in their culture that they would never risk it.
This is why they have so many 2:05-2:10 marathons but not the outlier 2:00-2:03 that african countries do, because they won’t go the extra mile in taking drugs.
The argument that cultural shame (or religious values or whatever) would stop athletes doping doesn't hold water. WADA says doping is everywhere, in all countries and in all sports.
A strong sense of personal shame still permeates amongst a majority of athletes at the top.
Considering Jakob taking down world records since he was a little boy I would be surprised if he was doping. His year to year improvement seemed pretty rational.
Remember the Fancy Bears leak that implicated his bros as likely doping, and then his bros never reached near that level again? You really think the best guy, setting all-time records is spanking all the dopers/PED users (there's many) in track while CLEAN? The Liberals/Democrats would like you to turn on your television and subsequently be indoctrinated by what they subtly tell you to think.
The argument that cultural shame (or religious values or whatever) would stop athletes doping doesn't hold water. WADA says doping is everywhere, in all countries and in all sports.
A strong sense of personal shame still permeates amongst a majority of athletes at the top.
It doesn't stop them doping. Some of them aren't even ashamed when they are caught. Shelby.
A strong sense of personal shame still permeates amongst a majority of athletes at the top.
It doesn't stop them doping. Some of them aren't even ashamed when they are caught. Shelby.
Is this broad assessment based on your personal or professional experience with top athletes? Or is it based on something you read on a website?
Is your citation of Houlihan meant to imply that she is without personal shame, or is it that she knowingly went outside the rules despite having a sense of shame?
In any case, there are far better examples, at least for the latter. The Houlihan case is an odd one, in that nandrolone is a stunningly ancient substance to employ in a modern doping scheme.
If you want to cite an athlete that was without shame, Gatlin would fit the bill. He knew that he and Graham were going outside the rules and despite his quiet efforts to cooperate with anti doping authorities after his conviction, he still has yet to publicly admit his complicity.
Nick also shared his entire training logs leading up to London and his training was very realistic. There may never be another Nick Symmonds, legend and role model. He was a decade ahead of his time by trying to monetize his career online, had an actual personality and progressed from D3 to the pinnacle of the sport.
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