Have these guys fallen off the planet or what? Haven't heard these guys in any results all season, have they just not been racing yet or do they not plan on racing this year at the World Championships?
Heard lots of speculation that Ramzi was a cheat, but he's never tested positive. Has he gone into retirement/hiding after winning his two World Championships? Also heard that Bekele was also contemplating retirement... anyone care to share any news on either?
bekele has fallen off the planet? he raced world's cross in march and ran indoors.
Yeah I remembering him at World Cross, but I didn't recall him at any Indoor meets. I guess to better phrase my question, has he ran an outdoor meet yet and plan on running at the World Championships?
Bekele ran a fairly fast 2 mile in Europe, later he pulled out of the Pre classic, feeling he wasn't fully recovered I believe it was, but yes. He has ran one indoor race.
yeah i dunno about ramzi, but bekele's just been having a rough year. he was sick and stuff, and even though he 'thought' about retiring, i think he's just getting used to the fact that he's not totally invincible. i mean the guy's won basically every race since coming out of being a junior, and every race he hasnt won USUALLY has some sort of explanation (e.g. getting sick, doubling). the only race i remember where he 'legitimately' got beaten without any 'excuse' (however lame that excuse may be) is when songok beat him in the 5k of the golden league, and maybe when mottram beat him in the end-of-year 3k (i think that one was 'excuse free').
he just needs to adjust his mentality. but i think he's just recovering from a few things right now, and he said that he would only do the 10k at worlds.
I have no idea what Ramzi has been up to, but Kenenisa is just taking things very slowly in order to fully recover from his disastrous outing in Mombassa. As the above poster said he won a 2 mile race in Hengelo a couple of weeks ago, and only plans to race one or two more times before the world championships where he'll be running in the 10,000m. I think that African article that claimed he was considering retirement was a bit sensational.
I wouldn't even blink if it came out that Ramzi was a cheat. Check out his year-to-year progression on iaaf.org, he goes from being an elite-but-not-world-class runner to a world-beater in one year. The guy drops something like 10 or 15 seconds off his 1500 in one year...hmm...methinks there's an all-too familiar pattern here.
AdamLocked wrote:
Yeah I remembering him at World Cross, but I didn't recall him at any Indoor meets. I guess to better phrase my question, has he ran an outdoor meet yet and plan on running at the World Championships?
Will this help 4:49.99 2000m Indoor WR
I saw Ramzi 3 weeks ago in Ifrane. He was training and feeling fine. He has been struggling with injuries during the winter but feels confident he'll be back in time ( read to run good at the WC).
The training I saw was just some easy tempo run but he looked very fit so I guess he will be in Osaka!
I guess these guys are taking it pretty low, Olympic year next year so these guys are preparing for that I'm sure.
bump
Not sure if Ramzi ran this outdoor season at all, but he did well in June/July last summer, but did pretty bad in his last 2 or 3 races of the season. Not sure if he was sick or just wasn't in the shape he was in earlier in the year.
Don't know his plans for this year. I'd imagine the 800 or the 1500 again if not trying to defend the double?
is there anyone in the sport of track and field as suspicious as rashid ramzi? the dude comes out of pretty much nowhere to win the world 800 and 1500 in a very tough double (six total races), runs a few more low-key races, then disappears entirely. not to mention that the 800 win was a freakin personal best at the time! oh, and he used to be moroccan, but was bought by Bahrain; those athlete-buying nations are about as trustworthy as the old East Germany as far as sportsmanship goes.
i can't think of any other athlete on the world scene that i honestly believe is on PEDs, but i am all but sure that ramzi is. actually, ritz's straight-from-rehab 10k win and 2mi breakthrough (immediately after switching to salazar) is kind of shady, but that's for another thread.
well while we about it, does anyone know what Tyson Gay is on
Dr Who wrote:
well while we about it, does anyone know what Tyson Gay is on
every roid out there!!
run-bike-run wrote:
is there anyone in the sport of track and field as suspicious as rashid ramzi? the dude comes out of pretty much nowhere to win the world 800 and 1500 in a very tough double (six total races), runs a few more low-key races, then disappears entirely. not to mention that the 800 win was a freakin personal best at the time! oh, and he used to be moroccan, but was bought by Bahrain; those athlete-buying nations are about as trustworthy as the old East Germany as far as sportsmanship goes.
Ramzi is the ultimate flash in the pan track athlete. His 2 golds at Worlds were one of the biggest flukes in track history. You would think that with his two golds he'd be a favorite at every track race that he ran afterwards but he wasn't. If he runs at Worlds again he will not be considered a serious medal threat.
Ramzi is by far the most obvious PED user I've seen in years. There didn't even seem to be an attempt to hide the fact that he was toying with the field. Does anyone else remember in his semi when he finished that 1500 in lane 8 and jogged straight off the track leaving the entire field in his wake.
The strangest thing with this semi you mention is it does not fit the person Ramzi is.
If you meet him in person he is very quiet, very introvert. Even if you ask him a question directly he looks at his trainer/coach boulami before he answers the question. If you compare this with his extrovert behavior in the semi it just doesn't seem right. Altough I saw him training a lot and most certainly is a talented runner, every time I see those race I think this are the drugs running and not Ramzi.
Is there anything know about changes in behavior by ped's? could synthetic testosterone have this effect?
Wait, his coach is Boulami? As in Brahim Boulami the steepler who tested positive for EPO? That certainly doesn't help his credibility. I think no matter how nice the guys is, his performances and then lack there of are questionable and his choice of coach only adds to the suspicion.
No, his coach is Khalid Boulami, 3k/5k guy from mid/late 90s. Chapter and verse on his training elswhere on letsrun. Doesn't prove anything re ethics one way or t'other but interesting in its own right.