I wonder why East Germany didn't have more good marathon runners.
Tom Osler commented on this in his last book, "Serious Runners' Manual" or some such title. His quote was something like "the men in the white lab coats will never out perform an enjoyable run in the forest." I don't have either the title or the quote completely accurate but his point was that they were overly analytical and missed the enjoyable more artistic aspect to running marathons. I liked that quote, whatever it actually was.
Katrin Dörre-Heinig.
Osaka, Tokyo, Nagoya, London, Berlin, Hamburg and Frankfurt marathon winner.
As far as I know, biathlete Sergei Tarasov is the only Soviet athlete who has confessed blood doping to confirm the allegations that he ended up in a hospital after something went wrong in the 1992 Olympic games. I have a recollection having seen a confession from someone else regarding the 1980 summer or winter olympics but haven't been able to locate the source.
I knew I'd seen the 1980 confession, the athlete was Aleksandras Antipov(as), the real source is the interview with the journal Sovietskii Sport in 1989 reprinted as a telegraph item in some western outlets:
If it isn’t known how prevalent world doping was, the practice spread when denying its efficacy became an untenable position, and Kaarlo Maaninka wasn’t the only blood doper of the 1980 games, because some Italian athletes had also used the method and Soviet runner Aleksandras Antipovas admitted some ten years later having blood doped in 1980...
I also know today that Michael Kalinsky knew N.I. Volkov personally very closely from his Soviet days, so it is very possible that Kalinsky knew in person many details of the Soviet blood doping program and the praxis of the method and wasn't just speculating about the widespread blood doping culture.
As far as I know, biathlete Sergei Tarasov is the only Soviet athlete who has confessed blood doping to confirm the allegations that he ended up in a hospital after something went wrong in the 1992 Olympic games. I have a recollection having seen a confession from someone else regarding the 1980 summer or winter olympics but haven't been able to locate the source.
I knew I'd seen the 1980 confession, the athlete was Aleksandras Antipov(as), the real source is the interview with the journal Sovietskii Sport in 1989 reprinted as a telegraph item in some western outlets:
If it isn’t known how prevalent world doping was, the practice spread when denying its efficacy became an untenable position, and Kaarlo Maaninka wasn’t the only blood doper of the 1980 games, because some Italian athletes had also used the method and Soviet runner Aleksandras Antipovas admitted some ten years later having blood doped in 1980...
I also know today that Michael Kalinsky knew N.I. Volkov personally very closely from his Soviet days, so it is very possible that Kalinsky knew in person many details of the Soviet blood doping program and the praxis of the method and wasn't just speculating about the widespread blood doping culture.
Do you have any source of Alberto Cova's confession to blood doping?
I think Cova admitted the use of blood doping to journalist Oliviero Beha in 1982 even when I've seen a source from 1984 claiming he later denied having used the method.
Those Marathon 80 racing flats were my all-time favorites.
Even doped up, he would have had his hands full in those shoes trying to fend off Ruth in her Super Shoes and whatever drugs she was on. His PB 2:09:55. Got her by 1 second.
This post was edited 5 minutes after it was posted.
At age 51, I know I'm up there with the old timers...anyway, the thing that struck me watching Cierpinski is that he had an incredibly smooth stride albeit with a slight "bounce" that hinted at great elastic recoil in his legs. As much as Frank has been (appropriately) showcased as an elegant runner in regards to his stride, Cierpinski did not look "clunky" or awkward running beside Frank. Even allowing for Frank stiffening up somewhat in the rain, Cierpinski clearly showed that he could cover a lot of ground in an efficient manner. His run at Montreal looked just as smooth. Doping or not, he obviously had great talent.
Indiana
A lot of footage including slow motion of Cierpinski's running form in this video. Very smooth and efficient looking from the naked eye.
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