People here think you can pick anyone out at random from a Sudanese refugee camp and make them world class.
In the late 70's, Omar Khalifa was one of the best talents in Africa. He went to Loughborough at the same time as Coe and David Moorcroft, and was trained in the same way by George Gandy. BTW, if Gandy was giving Coe steroids as many people here claim, there is no reason to suppose he wouldn't also be giving Khalifa them.
Yet although Khalifa had a successful career, he wasn't in the same stratosphere as Coe,or the other Brits, and finished his career with pbs of 1:44.75 and 3:33.28.
I agree that most East Africans are doping, but I also believe they have the physical advantage of simply having smaller bodies, which is incredibly advantageous in the marathon. Also, all sub 2:09s are dirty? I don't think so. There is no evidence to suggest that Japanese marathoners are dirty.
If East Africans are doping yet they still lose to Ingebrigtsen, Kerr, Keely Hodgkinson, Cole Hocker, Grant Fisher, Batocleti, Jessica Hull et al then what are the Americans and Europeans doing. Are they being genetically engineered ?
I agree that most East Africans are doping, but I also believe they have the physical advantage of simply having smaller bodies, which is incredibly advantageous in the marathon. Also, all sub 2:09s are dirty? I don't think so. There is no evidence to suggest that Japanese marathoners are dirty.
If East Africans are doping yet they still lose to Ingebrigtsen, Kerr, Keely Hodgkinson, Cole Hocker, Grant Fisher, Batocleti, Jessica Hull et al then what are the Americans and Europeans doing. Are they being genetically engineered ?
Yes, and even if the above names were doping, all it would prove is that when the best Caucasians dope, they are better than the best doped East Africans.
The genetic advantage of 'smaller bodies' is likely that it precludes them from just about any other sport other than distance running. It's not a genetic advantage for running in itself.
And even there it's probably not genetic, just a result of Kenya being a poorer country where children obtain the same dietry nutrition as a child in the USA in the 19th century, when Americans were over 2 inches smaller than they are today.
Just pointing this out. EPO hit the scene and the world record went from 2:09 to 2:01 in a matter of 20 years. Yet we are supposed to think these athletes are just getting better by magic.
Ah, yes. People tend to forget that the only two possible mechanisms for sport-wide progression over time are EPO and magic. That’s why every athlete who’s run a mile faster than Bannister is either a doper, a witch, or both.
If East Africans are doping yet they still lose to Ingebrigtsen, Kerr, Keely Hodgkinson, Cole Hocker, Grant Fisher, Batocleti, Jessica Hull et al then what are the Americans and Europeans doing. Are they being genetically engineered ?
Yes, and even if the above names were doping, all it would prove is that when the best Caucasians dope, they are better than the best doped East Africans.
Nope: It means Europeans have access to better dope just as they did in the 1970s and 1980s when they had access to blood doping and no one else did.