I was watching ESPN Classic the other night and they were doing highlights from the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. They did a piece about the 46.78 that Kevin Young dropped in the final, and mentioned how it was not only a WR by a large amount, but that it was also a PR by a large amount. So I thought I'd do some research and see how fast Kevin had run up to that point, and how fast he ran afterwards. So here is a breakdown of his fastest 22 times - the times start in 1988 and end in 1993 (with footnote about 1994:
1988:
6/3 47.85
7/17 47.72
8/17 47.74
9/25 47.94
1989:
8/18 47.86
8/23 47.94
1990:
NO TIMES UNDER 47.99
Finished year ranked 3rd in the US and 6th in the world
1991:
8/7 47.83
1992:
6/21 47.89
7/8 47.97
8/5 47.63 (Olympic Semi's and new PR)
8/6 46.78 (Olympic Finals - new PR and new WR)
8/11 47.60
8/14 47.67
8/16 47.42
8/19 47.40
8/28 47.70
1993:
6/18 47.69
7/2 47.73
7/7 47.37
8/1 47.75
8/17 47.99
8/19 47.18
1994: Ran twice all year - best time 49.70 (date unk)
Man, that was fun. Any comments? And I don't just mean the standard "he was dirty" fingerpointing that goes on most of the time on these boards. I don't mind if you want to say that you believe he was taking something, but please give me something more insightful like "I believe substance xxx could account for the improvement" or "If PED's could improve Kevin Young' time by xxx amount in 1992, what could current PED's do (or are doing) to the preformances of current athletes?" Or go the other way and say why you believe he was not using anything at thie time. And I don't just mean "because he never tested positive" because we all know what a load of B.S. that is....so what do ya'll think.