Otis Meal wrote:I believe it is fair to say that US distance running declined from the late 80's through to the early 2000's. We can argue who was running what time, and how fast they were relative to contemporary world class athletes. There are obvious exceptions.
In the nineties, Kenyans and Ethiopians started running at a whole different level. Times which seemed out of reach for white westerners, who had the then-modern science and training methods behind them- not to mention PEDs, which no Kenyan could ever afford.
Americans/Europeans started thinking: We have science, we have coaching, we have a decades long running traditions- so why are we having our asses handed to us? We all knew that for the east African, the outcome of a race could literally mean a difference of affluence and starvation. Is that why they were winning? People don't want to minimize everything to not being tough enough, especially Americans.
The advantage, then, must have been something not available to white runners. Altitude training had been known about long before, so this couldn't have been the difference.
What were Americans lacking? It must the kenyan physiology. It must be evolution or something. We all heard vague things about fiber types, extra muscles in Kenyans legs, and crazy Achilles tendons. Once this is what was decided by psuedo-scientists (the same ones who touted the benefits of heel-striking) track disappeared as a sport. Why train your butt off if you are fundamentally incapable of competing for the top level? We all know, in America, that Gold is the only medal that counts.
It took guts to go against that load of misinformation and realize that mental toughness is the greatest performance enhancer. Bob Kennedy clearly realized it, and I believe that Adam Goucher was one of the principle people who helped to turn the tide. I believe that, to some degree, Lagat was the catalyst. Some runners couldn't handle the idea of a "Kenyan," owning all the records, so they went into beast mode. BTW, Lagat is just as American as the next guy. Anyways, the moral of the story is that Adam Goucher deserves a lot more credit. A LOT MORE.
If "no Kenyan" could ever afford drugs, how did the ones that tested positive afford them?
Are they that much worse off financially than Moroccans or Algerians (who have had MANY high-profile positives -- and obviously pay for it somehow)?
Was Deeja Youngquist somehow making more than Africans running 8:05 / 13:00 / 27:10 or faster on the European track circuit during that era?