usain bolt. wrote:
Get Real Real wrote:d not say what you contend he said -- that is an old silly LRC forum distortion.
What he actually says is probably too nuanced for you to understand.
this is funny, since alberto says, and I quote: "I believe that it is currently difficult to be among the top 5 in the world in any of distance events without using EPO or HGH."
there is no nuance there unless you're distorting it to believe what you want.
alberto knew/knows that doping was/is rampant. He pointed out that it was why times were dropping below where he ran, and it was easy for him to say that when he was retired and not yet (at least seriously) coaching.
now he's getting paid again and the story changes.
i bet you believe armstrong is clean too. ha.
If you need me to explain the difference between easy, difficult and impossible just let me know.
Also, what are you concluding "top 5 in world in any distance event" to mean? Top 5 runners now? Based off best marks this year? The top 5 fastest ever in each event?
If you look at the top 5 runners on the lists of 3K, 5K and 10K we are pretty far out of it. Even 7:30, 12:54 and 26:59 don't come close, and in fact are quite modest. Don't be afraid to think a bit, maybe keep thinking on it, maybe not be able to draw your ultimate conclusion without all the facts.
3000 METERS
7:20.67 Daniel Komen (Kenya) 09/01/96
7:23.09 Hicham El Guerrouj (Morocco) 09/03/99
7:23.16+ --Komen 07/19/97
7:23.44+ --Komen 02/28/98
7:24.90i --Komen 02/06/98
7:25.02 Ali Saïdi Sief (Algeria) 08/18/00
7:25.09 Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 08/28/98
7:25.11 Noureddine Morceli (Algeria) 08/02/94
7:25.16 --Komen 08/10/96
7:25.45+ --Gebrselassie 05/31/97
…………………………
7:25.79 Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 08/07/07
7:26.62 Mohammed Mourhit (Belgium) 08/18/00
7:27.18 Moses Kiptanui (Kenya) 07/25/95
7:27.59 Luke Kipkosgei (Kenya) 08/08/98
7:27.69+ Craig Mottram (Australia) 06/10/07
5000 METERS
12:37.35 Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 05/31/04
12:39.36 Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 06/13/98
12:39.74 Daniel Komen (Kenya) 08/22/97
12:40.18 --Bekele 07/01/05
12:41.86 --Gebrselassie 08/13/97
12:44.39 --Gebrselassie 08/16/95
12:44.90 --Komen 08/13/97
12:45.09 --Komen 08/14/96
12:46.53 Eliud Kipchoge (Kenya) 07/02/04
12:47.04 Sileshi Sihine (Ethiopia) 07/02/04
…………………………
12:48.66 Isaac Songok (Kenya) 08/18/06
12:48.81 Saïf Shaheen (Kenya) 06/12/03
12:49.28 Brahim Lahlafi (Morocco) 08/25/00
12:49.71 Mohammed Mourhit (Belgium) 08/25/00
12:49.87 Paul Tergat (Kenya) 08/13/97
10,000 METERS
26:17.53 Kenenisa Bekele (Ethiopia) 08/26/05
26:20.31 --Bekele 06/08/04
26:22.75 Haile Gebrselassie (Ethiopia) 06/01/98
26:25.97 --Bekele 06/08/08
26:27.85 Paul Tergat (Kenya) 08/22/97
26:28.72 --Bekele 05/29/05
26:29.22 --Gebrselassie 09/05/03
26:30.03 Nicholas Kemboi (Kenya) 09/05/03
26:30.74 Abebe Dinkesa (Ethiopia) 05/29/05
26:31.32 --Gebrselassie 07/04/97
…………………………
26:35.63 Micah Kogo (Kenya) 08/25/06
26:36.26 Paul Koech (Kenya) 08/22/97
26:37.25 Zersenay Tadese (Eritrea) 08/25/06
26:38.08 Salah Hissou (Morocco) 08/23/96
26:38.76 Abdullah Hassan (Qatar) 09/05/03
What you may notice, is that a majority of these fastest times in each event were recorded a half decade or more in the past, closer to the time when Salazar actually made his statement. If the top runners in the world now are running 20-40 seconds slower for 10K and 10-20 seconds slower for 5K, wouldn't it be a damn good bit easier to crack into that top 5?