BBC reports Charlie Francis, White, 61, dead from Cancer. He coached Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Ben Johnson. Apparently steroids shortened his life considerably. Such are the risks dopers take ;-{
BBC reports Charlie Francis, White, 61, dead from Cancer. He coached Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, Ben Johnson. Apparently steroids shortened his life considerably. Such are the risks dopers take ;-{
Anyone have a list of Charlie Francis's disciples. Coaches, athletes, doctors, trainers, massage therapists, agents, etc. ?
Will be interesting to see how many of his ex-athletes pay tribute to him.
Certainly not an ex-athlete, but a fellow Coach, who chose a different path, but I still have the greatest respect for Charlie's incredible brilliance and knowledge and passion for the sport.
RIP, my friend, and all condolences to your family...
A much better article appears here:
In that article, Francis is praised by the current head of Athletics Canada.
Jesus Christ, Gardiner's quotes are terrible.
From a post to the Track-Canada list by Doug Consiglio, former NCAA 1000m record holder and member of the 1988 Canadian Olympic team:
Sad, when ever any one dies.
Perhaps it is just best, and most honourable to talk about a man's good point when he dies. If you agree with that statement, just read the next sentence and move on, don't read the rest, as the rest of the e mail regresses from this point.
Charlie Francis was a knowledgeable sprint coach who knew how to train athletes. He was a very intelligent, well spoken man. He helped advance sprint training in Canada.
*****
But, I was surprised Alex Gardiner gave him so much praise though. I personally know Charlie told a bunch of us distance runners in the mid 80's that we were idiots not to cheat. He said we would make more money, run faster and become more famous . I guess he forgot to mention the "in" in front of famous.
In Seoul, Korea, back in 88, and after Ben Johson, Charlie's star athlete, got caught, the entire track team had to go through meeting after meeting to deal with the after math. We were told we could not wear our Canadian Track Uniform to the practice track and if somebody asked us, we had to deny we were on the Canadian Track Team. Those of us whom had chosen to stay Clean, still were wiped with the same brush. The Canadian Press at home had articles saying the whole team was on steriods. We were told that if we spoke to the press we would be sent home, and would never again represent Canada. Another distance runner and I asked our Federation if we could all be tested to prove our innocence, even make it voluntary. This was voted down by the Track Coaches, ( in order to stop other embarrassments I presume). All the coaches there know which way they voted, and why. The voting results were not made public. Charlies group helped taint the ultimate athletic experience for many of us, and we got tainted as well.
When years later I asked Charlie ( who was then banned for life in Canada) if he ever felt a need to apologize to people like me, who had stayed clean, and were adversely affected by his actions. He told me something to the effect that I am a naive young athlete who is stupid to play by the rules. Thanks Charlie.
There were other implications for us athletes back then as well. The Ben Johnson incident also cleared out almost all sponsorship money out of Canada, that was for sure. It was near impossible to get a contract then. And it also caused Athletics Canada to suffer financially for decades. This is when all the rules about paying your way on teams, etc came into place. So, if you have ever complained about having to pay so much to go to world cross, Junior meets, or FISU, this is when it started.
And he certainly didn't change his ways after he was banned for life in Canada. I saw him down at the Stanford Track on a couple of occasions during the Balco days. He was still telling me I was an idiot not to do things his way. He was still running with the 'cheating crowd.' Even after the whole Ben deal, he still didn't change his opinion on cheating.
So, to add on to what Mr. Gardner says, I will say, Charlie led a group that embarrassed our country, helped financially ruin Athletics Canada, encouraged athletes to cheat, burned many sponsorship opportunities for many athletes, and was part of the biggest doping scandals of all time at that point in history.
He also was a knowledgeable sprint coach who knew how to train athletes. And he was a very intelligent, well spoken man.
When Bernie Maddoff dies should we should say he was a man whom gave a lot to Charity, knew how to raise huge sums of money and loved his wife?............... ( among other things).
Like I said, sad when some one dies.
May he rest in peace. He has left his legacy.
Cancer is a terrible disease and losing a parent/partner this way is something that no one should wish upon anyone. In my opinion, he had the wrong views on sport but he wasn't a terrible person. Regardless of the drugs, he was brillant in his field. My thoughts are with his family during this difficult time.
If he was black like Ben, Marion, and Tim then he'd be villified and his grave trampled upon by the White media. Instead, they make him out to be some kind of victim of over-zealousy.
Shocking to hear he has died without public warning to his condition. Though the person quoted in the post above may disagree, this is a terrible loss to the track and field community.
Charlie was a rare individual who spoke his mind and did not follow the crowd. He was the even rarer track coach willing to share his training methods. They are all available via his books, videos, website forum, and seminars he personally hosted in Toronto. And they are used by countless sprint coaches the world over, whether they're willing to admit or not.
Devastated by this loss.
The country's governing body, Athletics Canada, barred Francis for life but he was unrepentant.
In a 1990 interview with CBC he said: "The only way to go back into [track] is to sort of act like, 'Oh, I was wrong. Drugs aren't necessary, gee kids,' and adopt the party line and go through some miraculous Saul-like conversion and come back out and toe the party line, and I'm not prepared to do that."
from this article below...
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2010/may/13/charlie-francis-ben-johnson-cancer
joel wrote:
Shocking to hear he has died without public warning to his condition. Though the person quoted in the post above may disagree, this is a terrible loss to the track and field community.
People active on Charlie's website knew that he was very sick with Mantle Cell Non-Hodgkins Lymphoma. For quite some time, those of us who knew were sworn to secrecy. Charlie himself wanted this private and that's why there was no public statement.
Make no mistake, he was guilty of the doping charge. But he was very giving of his good advice, and he was probably the sharpest mind in sprinting.
charliefrancis.com remains by far the best source of sprint information and methodology on the planet (with all drug talk banned).
People remember the Gebs, the El Gs, the Bolts, the Michael Johnsons, the Flo Jos, the Bekeles, the Kochs, blah blah. And they all doped. Ben Johnson got caught because he was stupid.
Charlie was a great, GREAT coach, and he was honest about the fraud that is track and field.
Don't forget Lance Armstrong.
Forgetful wrote:
Don't forget Lance Armstrong.
And 80% of the NFL...
And 80.01% of MLB, 80.02% of NHL
The famous quote from the Durbin Inquire:
There is a level playing field. It's just not the playing field you thought it was.
After Balco, you could say Charlie had the last laugh.
It's not about whether CF told the truth, it's about him painting it as a desirable outcome. Piss on CF's legacy.
General Mills wrote:
....and he was honest about the fraud that is track and field.
WHEN he got caught, that is.
Am I living in the twilight zone? The Boston Marathon weather was terrible!
Des Linden: "The entire sport" has changed since she first started running Boston.
Matt Choi was drinking beer halfway through the Boston Marathon
Ryan Eiler, 3rd American man at Boston, almost out of nowhere
2024 College Track & Field Open Coaching Positions Discussion