The facts are the Tumbleweed camp never had a positive until Blessing. Christian Taylor? Nope. Shara Proctor? Nope. Tianna Bartoletta? Nope. Dafne Schippers? Nope. Anybody else? Nope.
You make a great point. The exodus may have nothing to do with this.
Blessing and Divine very well may have been doping on their own. That's why the Netia stuff was important to me. Her teammates expressing disgust at her positive means a lot to me.
The athletes could have left due to the negative PR related to the Safe Sport stuff.
And I guess it's possible that Divine was clean at Tech but I'll admit it's hard not to see this and think one of the "feel good" stories in the NCAA - unheralded Texas Tech winning an NCAA title was totally illegitimate.
When will the gofundme page protesting his innocence be created by the site owner for his defense or is this something only done for white american athletes?
Maybe Letsrun will sell t-shirts claiming he is innocent.
Has a ban as a professional EVER resulted in someone losing an NCAA title? I doubt it. I don't think that the NCAA has the same look back period that World Athletics has.
Blessing and Divine very well may have been doping on their own. That's why the Netia stuff was important to me. Her teammates expressing disgust at her positive means a lot to me.
+1
What a welcome change to the telling situation at BTC... Her teammates not expressing disgust at her positive means a lot to me.
EXCLUSIVE: Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, coached by Reider, was withdrawn from the Olympics in Tokyo after testing positive for banned substances.
When will the gofundme page protesting his innocence be created by the site owner for his defense or is this something only done for white american athletes?
Maybe Letsrun will sell t-shirts claiming he is innocent.
Maybe it will, but I suspect not. Just note the type of posts from that rojo person on Divine and compare them to the posts they created for the burrito eating athlete. Tacit acceptance that Divine used PEDs versus refusal to believe that burrito eating claim held no merit.
The anti-doping agencies need to come down HARD on these athletes. Ban them for life and fine them for 50% of their total lifetime earnings as a pro athlete.
It sounds harsh, but the only way to fix the issue is to discourage people from doping with SEVERE consequences. Catching people and suspending them isn't enough because they still make money from doped up performances.
Common sense to me. But lots of pushback on lifetime bans, People act like its the same as putting you in jail for a lifetime...which its not. There are plenty of jobs that if get caught cheating stealing etc...you wont ever be welcomed back. I dont think people should necessarily go to prison for a long stretch, but a little "scared straight" for 2 years, then a 20 year ban seems reasonable. Has to be a detterant on the risk/benefit of taking this stuff.
Track and field is a tiny sliver of importance. We love it, but its just a sport. If you cheat, you should get kicked out! That's what would happen in most other hobbies, employers or clubs. Track isnt meant to be a lifetime job. Its a luxury that you earned and has rules. 20 yr ban, and you get on with your non-sporting life a little earlier. As we know, cheating doesnt just hurt the runners in the race you were in, it harms the whole sport, sews distrust. It makes watching greatness come with skepticism at every turn. Track gov bodies dont get that. We watch the womens 5000, is that a man? We watch Gedey, Hassan, Kipyegon, Kosgei running away from the pack like they are in a different sport, and we cant fully enjoy it.
When will the gofundme page protesting his innocence be created by the site owner for his defense or is this something only done for white american athletes?
Maybe Letsrun will sell t-shirts claiming he is innocent.
This case is far, far stronger than the Shelby Houlihan case. She tested positive. Divine Oduduru was found by the FBI with EPO and other drugs in his house and implicated by Blessing Okagbare.
This case is far, far stronger than the Shelby Houlihan case. She tested positive. Divine Oduduru was found by the FBI with EPO and other drugs in his house and implicated by Blessing Okagbare.
Or weaker. Shelby tested positive (A + B), and was consequently banned for four years for intentional doping. Done and done.
Divine had forbidden drugs in his house. Any evidence that he used them? That he knew they were there? What if Blessing secretly used Divine's house to hide her drugs? His fans might come up with the good old "but he never tested positive so he is clean".
(Not that anyone would believe that, but still...)