I am listening. While he is certainly shoddy these olympics certainly leave a strange taste in your mouth. Look at the winners in the mid D events for instance. Mens and Womens 1500 podiums raised questions. Womens 800 has questions in my mind. Semanya seemed to be sandbagging and there are still alot of questions there.
By the way jogging a 1500 and a 5k does not help either.
Maybe the IAAF should start some sort of a program where prizes and appearance fees from any IAAF-sanctioned event are held by the IAAF in trust until an athlete reaches a pre-determined age, say, 35 or 40.
Or maybe that portion that exceeds a maximum amount, something like $50k annually.
Also, it could be possible as a condition of eligibility that sponsorship proceeds also be held in trust.
It should be a minimum age, and not necessarily go with declared retirement, to allow things like preserved samples and the biologic passport to remain meaningful.
Just thinking laterally. It's all about money, you know. The situation should be addressed at its most significant and easily-accessed point, to get maximum benefit for minimum effort.
Oh, and then maybe paid out as an annuity.
Cowherd is going off right now. Cowherd's rant is referencing this article by Dan Bernstein: Bernstein: Usain Bolt Is Probably Doping (And You Know It)http://chicago.cbslocal.com/2012/08/12/bernstein-usain-bolt-is-probably-doping-and-you-know-it/The article and Cowherd are sloppy as they both talk a lot about Bolt's ties to Angel Hernedia of BALCO- which was 100% not fact and just sloppy reporting as that never existed. Last November, we and others told you someone just used the word "Bolt" for sprinter and were being lazy: http://www.letsrun.com/2011/homepage1111.phpCowherd of course doesn't mention Jeter's actual ties to BALCO whereas Bolt has zero ties to BALCO.
Bernstein writes:
Jamaica’s Yohan Blake, who just won the silver in the 100 and 200, tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug prior to the 2009 World Championships. Teammates Julian Dunkley and Steve Mullings have also been caught doping.
What are the odds that a tiny, island country suddenly dominates global competition…just because?
Bolt reportedly has been working with Angel Hernandez, too. Hernandez used to be called Angel Heredia, back when he was a chemist for BALCO and later “Source A,” who supplied the documents that helped convict Marion Jones, Tim Montgomery, C.J. Hunter and Justin Gatlin. Gatlin just took bronze in the 100, behind Bolt and Blake.
So while it angers me to actually have to hear a specific falsehood in this case and to have a 3 month drug ban compared to a 2 year one, it proves a larger point.
In this instance he's way off the money but in a larger sense he's right on the money (if he was talking about Jeter, I wouldn't have a big problem with his rant)
Nick Symmmonds and everyone else who wants to know why they can't get sponsors - the answer is simple.
DOPING SUSPICIONS ARE KILLING THE POPULARITY OF THE SPORT. One of America's largest sports talk show hosts is saying he can't really get into the Olympic track because he wonders if they are clean.
So if you are one who gets upset because we ask uncomfortable questions, then you don't get it. More questions need to be asked as dopers have to be treated like pariahs.
Hopefully, the tide is really turning in that direction.
But the sport has a long way to go. I may write an editorial about this.
But think about this fact for a minute. Think about how many medalists in London were openly asked about possible doping links when they met with the press after winning their medals.
It's a good thing that people are finally starting to openly ask some questions but it's scary that so many questions still exist. To me, the Olympics were both uplifting and depressing in that sense.
Think of all the doping related questions that were asked of the following medalists.
Women's 1500 - Alptekin asked about past doping
Women's 100/200- Jeter asked BALCO/Block.
Men's 110 h - Richardson BALCO/Block.
Men's 5k/10k - Farah was asked about thyroid by Europeans.
Men's 1500 - I'm not sure if Makhloufi was asked directly about doping but he was asked about his injury, improvement so basically he was.
Weldon was there so he'd know if more questions were asked but those are the ones I know of.
There are only 10 mid-d and distance golds handed out for track action at the Olympics and the winners of four of them were basically asked questions about doping (Farah counts twice, Alpetkin and Makhloufi). That's 40%.
My aunt just called and asked if I enjoyed the Olympics. I told her "Well I'm not sure if this is the best time for me to answer this as I'm still exhausted from working for 10 days straight. Some of it was certainly spectacular but I feel worn down right now - worn down from working and worn down from wondering if the people winning the events I care about are doped."
Fight on.
Who would listen to Colin Cowherd?
Rowbury was right, in her interview on flotrack, that convicted druggies should not be allowed in WC or OG meets. Let them compete in the diamond league, but not in championship meets.
That, or make the ban 4 years so they miss the next OG.
Cowherd's assertions are based on a Shoddy poorly written article. Bolt might or might not be dirty, but, based on current evidence, Bolt has done nothing wrong.
1)Usain Bolt has been a champion since his young days,he is essentially beating the same people he has been beating
2) As a 10 year old he was already running 50 s for 400 meters, so, talent exists, this is not something new from him
3) The assertions that Jamaica has suddenly rose to the top are silly, Jamaica has a long history of sprinting, remember a part from Jamaica's own sprinters, most of the famous British and Canadian sprinters had heavy Jamaican heritage,
4) USA dominance in the 80s, 90s, and earlier this century can be linked to heavy use of PEDs and in deed our 'poor' performance can be linked to more stringent testing regimes.
5) Most importantly, Cowherd is not a track and field guy, you and I and even the worst troll on LR board possibly know more about track and field than he does. I doubt whether Cowherd, he knows whom Gallen Rupp, or Uceny are or even Cam Levins achievement this year? As him of Duane's breakthrough season and he will give you a blank stare. I wont ask him of athletes from East Africa because he wont know anything about them, he should stick to football. If I want track and field news and opinion, I sift through the boards, where I am (a)Entertained and (b)informed for I know who are the trolls and who are serious posters
For the record, there are 12 mid/distance golds:
800, 1500, 3kst, 5k, 10k, and mara for men and women
Cowherd said that doping is killing the popularity of Track.
Doping has done a lot to the popularity of Baseball, Football and many other sports.
Sprintgeezer wrote:
Maybe the IAAF should start some sort of a program where prizes and appearance fees from any IAAF-sanctioned event are held by the IAAF in trust until an athlete reaches a pre-determined age, say, 35 or 40.
Or maybe that portion that exceeds a maximum amount, something like $50k annually.
Also, it could be possible as a condition of eligibility that sponsorship proceeds also be held in trust.
It should be a minimum age, and not necessarily go with declared retirement, to allow things like preserved samples and the biologic passport to remain meaningful.
Just thinking laterally. It's all about money, you know. The situation should be addressed at its most significant and easily-accessed point, to get maximum benefit for minimum effort.
These are good points, but I think track's issues go way beyond them. The problems aren't just individual athletes- it's easy to forget that even a lot of the athletes who are doping love the sport and have been training their entire lives. There is immense pressure on track athletes to perform, as the entire sport is set up to greatly reward veeeery few of the absolute best athletes. The business aspect of track sucks in most places for producing good athletes who aren't tempted to dope. Think about how hard it is to make a good living as a sprinter in the US if you are, say, a perennial semifinalist at the USATF meet. Perhaps you'll improve through years of hard work on a limited budget, but if you can get access to PEDs and are suddenly looking at faster meets, better times, winning championships, sweet advertising deals...a LOT of people would just go for it.
If you want to encourage people not to dope, don't expect it to come just from offering rewards for good (and clean) performances. Athletes need to be in training and racing environments that enable them to excel without resorting to cheating, and that means they can't be worried about finances all the time.
Listening to you people glorify Bolt while slamming Ramzi, Jeter, the Turkish 1500 runners, Mak-Daddy, etc is hypocritical as shit and reeks of favoritism. The brojos are going to look like idiots years from now once the Jamaican systematic doping program is unveiled.
wtf man i posted this yesterday
You forgot the 20k race walk. Which had someone busted in this olympics.
81runner wrote:
Cowherd said that doping is killing the popularity of Track.
Doping has done a lot to the popularity of Baseball, Football and many other sports.
This is an excellent point. The US media is hypocritical in its treatment of these sports because they make so much money off them, unlike track.
Rojo,
You are missing the bigger picture. this guy says he cannot get into track because of doping suspicions but he knows darned well, baseball, football, basketball, hockey etc are dirty as hell and doesn't care.
The problem is he doesn't see Track as a professional sport but rather some old fashioned Olympic ideal of pure amateurism. The problem with our sport is not the drug suspicions but that it is still marketed and seen as an amateur side show. When reading the messages of many on this board, I sadly realize that alleged fans feel the same way. Take how Bolt is criticized for his celebration. No professional athlete is criticized like that. Until track is thrown at the public as 100% professional, nothing else will matter.
Cowherd is slamming Bolt because...
1. He's an assertive, self-confident black man
2. He's not an American
Cowherd knows his audience. It's more like a ref's whistle than a dog whistle.
Couldn't empathise more with Rojo's final sentiment. Someone asked me today what the performance of the Olympic Games were for me, and was shocked when I said that it was the Dutch guy's winning performance in the gymnastics high bar and not one of the many outstanding track and field performances. It's simple for me - T&F's tainted image means that I can no longer enjoy an outstanding performance simply for what it is.
And I love track and field!
But the sport is doing itself no favours. Why do athletes continue to associate themselves with those who have doped in the past? I can think of more than a few people who have eventually been caught who had a husband or coach with a tainted past. And even if these people aren't guilty, dopers have no place in the sport, and we need a zero tollerence.
I was probably the only Irish person alive who was praying on Saturday that Robbie Heffernan didn't get that bronze medal in the 50k walk. He has associated himself with cheats, and irrespective of his relationship with them, that is basically saying that he condones doping (or at least that he doesn't condem it).
We all owe this great sport more than that.
Time for zero tollerence!
And as for 2 year bans; don't get me started on that. People competing in the Olympics after serving a shorter sentence than some of us get for picking up a virus, or ending up with a bad case of anaemia is just a joke!
#NoPlaceInMySportForDrugCheats
I hope you refuse to watch the Super Bowl, NBA Champs, (hell March Madness), World Series, College Football, and just about every other sport. You can't claim to love track and field and not be overwhelmed with wonder at what happened in these games. there are rules to this sport. You test positive, and don't have the right lawyers to get your B sample reinterpreted (Lagat) you get tossed. Until then, you are considered clean. If you want to hate the sport go ahead, but don't pretend to be a fan.
Just a little bit angry wrote:
Couldn't empathise more with Rojo's final sentiment. Someone asked me today what the performance of the Olympic Games were for me, and was shocked when I said that it was the Dutch guy's winning performance in the gymnastics high bar and not one of the many outstanding track and field performances. It's simple for me - T&F's tainted image means that I can no longer enjoy an outstanding performance simply for what it is.
And I love track and field!
But the sport is doing itself no favours. Why do athletes continue to associate themselves with those who have doped in the past? I can think of more than a few people who have eventually been caught who had a husband or coach with a tainted past. And even if these people aren't guilty, dopers have no place in the sport, and we need a zero tollerence.
I was probably the only Irish person alive who was praying on Saturday that Robbie Heffernan didn't get that bronze medal in the 50k walk. He has associated himself with cheats, and irrespective of his relationship with them, that is basically saying that he condones doping (or at least that he doesn't condem it).
We all owe this great sport more than that.
Time for zero tollerence!
And as for 2 year bans; don't get me started on that. People competing in the Olympics after serving a shorter sentence than some of us get for picking up a virus, or ending up with a bad case of anaemia is just a joke!
#NoPlaceInMySportForDrugCheats
Just a little bit angry wrote:
Couldn't empathise more with Rojo's final sentiment. Someone asked me today what the performance of the Olympic Games were for me, and was shocked when I said that it was the Dutch guy's winning performance in the gymnastics high bar and not one of the many outstanding track and field performances.
#NoPlaceInMySportForDrugCheats
I was EXACTLY the same! And I don't even like gymnastics, I think subjective sports are stupid. I was more excited watching that than anything on the track.
Agreed that the sport is tainted, at least to the real fans. The ones tuning in because it is the Olympics will be indifferent in much the same way as they are to baseball, the NFL, and other American sports where doping exists but no one seems to care.
That aside, I was wondering if Jamaica's success is more due to a lack of US success. . .because perhaps the doping among US athletes has been reigned in to a large extent, therefore reversing their previous dominance.
That is not to say the Jamaican athletes (or any others) are entirely beyond reproach and not possibly doping---as with cycling there is a history there and the sport is tainted to many because of previous events.
And finally, I totally agree that relationships with individuals who have a shady past should be called into question. It does not automatically mean there is guilt, but most often there there is smoke there is fire. . .what are the chances those individuals have changed anything about the way they operate? But until more than just the athletes are banned from sport, this situation should continue to cast doubt on individual performances.
Jonathan