coach d wrote:
El Guerouj ran 3:26:00 in 1998, which would be the EPO era. But Hicham and Bernard both ran 3:26-low in 2001, after there was a test. And CERA was not available then.
But this needs a pic. This is Bernard and Hicham both running 3:26 in Brussels, 2001. One of the greatest ever distance races:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UQjjLgT-WHA
True, but remember that the effects of EPO last 6+ months.
Also, the EPO test was available in 2001, but athletes started to micro dose EPO to evade testing, which worked phenomenally.