From the other thread, she also seems to incriminate herself without words coming out of her mouth. I think it's a game she can't win regardless.Regarding her form, Prof Andrew Jones collected data over a twelve year period, and published two papers, that showed no significant change in VO2max (something you might expect to change with EPO), but continuous improvements in economy -- she got faster for less oxygen cost, despite the "bad form".Regarding her 2:15 record being so far ahead of the next one, you already mention one of the "non-doping" factors that separate Paula's effort from the others -- she had male pacemakers. Even if there was no physical benefit, there is a psychological benefit running with someone who can help share/maintain the pace. Other factors:1) London 2003 had a favourable tailwind, which helped way more than hurt, not only Paula, but measurably helped the other 20 elite women too, on a scale comparable to Boston 2011.2) Women don't go for world records like the men. Besides Paula, who has really made any bona-fide attempts since, say Ingrid Krisstiansen? Women's races tend to be tactical, with many slow miles, rather than all-out efforts. Likely in part, because...3) Women lack the depth of the men. Even if they tried, there aren't many women that can accompany a world record pace attempt, either as a pacemaker, or as a competitor. There is a "critical mass" that doesn't exist for the women, like for the men.For these reasons, you can't really compare women's marathon to the men (let alone the sprints). To better compare, you would need to let a group of men pace the women in fast marathons like Berlin or London.
kal wrote:
Radcliffe incriminates herself more and more with each word that comes out of her mouth..
Absolutely horrible technique, and yet a time 3 mins faster than anyone has ever managed before or since, in the women's race that would equate to what? 1km or just over? (2.5% race distance). Which is equivalent to running 10m ahead of WR pace every lap for 100 straight laps. Hilarious, and yet people think of the 100, 200 and 400 as being untouchable.
And iirc wasn't her WR paced by men ?
Just because a WR wasn't set in the 80's does NOT mean it is any cleaner whatsoever than those that were