I am among Gebrselassie's many admirers, but I want to know if he took performance enhancing drugs. Some folks assume he took EPO--or claim they "know" he did. I am one of the 99.999% of distance running fans who have zero inside knowledge. I am curious to know what other informed observers conclude, based on the available evidence.
Wejo? Care to go on record on this one?
A 12.55 5k for the second half of a 10k? Nah, nothing to see here.
Anyone who set records and won medals back before the EPO test and biological passport is automatically extremely suspect. It doesn't help his case that despite improvements in training/technology, no one comes close to the kind of times he and Bekele were running at 5K/10K.
I really hope that Haile was clean, but if I had to place a bet, I'd put my money on dirty.
No one comes close because all the really good Africans are skipping to the track to make money on the roads.
Of course you will not get any legitimate inside info on this thread, but you will get many more confident speculators.
While hard to ignore the fact that there really weren't any tests for epo in that era, it's also easy to see how the popularity, talent, and interest there was in the distance track world records at that time, achieved times not seen since then. Except for Rudisha's 800, there's not been a GOAT type runner make a serious drive for a world record in a very long time.
We will probably never know the truth. I believe Geb, Ken, etc could have run how they did clean, but I will also not be surprised some day to hear certainty otherwise.
Not Cool Bro wrote:
Anyone who set records and won medals back before the EPO test and biological passport is automatically extremely suspect. It doesn't help his case that despite improvements in training/technology, no one comes close to the kind of times he and Bekele were running at 5K/10K.
I really hope that Haile was clean, but if I had to place a bet, I'd put my money on dirty.
Bekele still competes and Geb did so up until just recently. In fact, wasn't Geb at the last Olympics!?
Hahahaaaaa wrote:
Not Cool Bro wrote:Anyone who set records and won medals back before the EPO test and biological passport is automatically extremely suspect. It doesn't help his case that despite improvements in training/technology, no one comes close to the kind of times he and Bekele were running at 5K/10K.
I really hope that Haile was clean, but if I had to place a bet, I'd put my money on dirty.
Bekele still competes and Geb did so up until just recently. In fact, wasn't Geb at the last Olympics!?
He was in the opening ceremony.
he was rumoured to have been doping,and he likely was......but we'll never really know.i read somewhere of someone staying in a room next to him,and he was frantically running up and down the corridor in an absolute panic,telling someone "but i need to run fast! i cant run fast without them.where are you? " it had something to do with his drug suppliers or doctors,or something.pity i cant post the link,but i know i read it.
Hahahaaaaa wrote:
Not Cool Bro wrote:Anyone who set records and won medals back before the EPO test and biological passport is automatically extremely suspect. It doesn't help his case that despite improvements in training/technology, no one comes close to the kind of times he and Bekele were running at 5K/10K.
I really hope that Haile was clean, but if I had to place a bet, I'd put my money on dirty.
Bekele still competes and Geb did so up until just recently. In fact, wasn't Geb at the last Olympics!?
Yes, Geb ran 2:03:59 in the marathon, a world record at the time by a significant margin and still #5 all-time, in 2008.
I suspect he has been doped since 1993 and has adjusted his dosages. Same with Bekele
There is too much money at stake to believe they are clean
I also have no insider knowledge, but given that he was the fastest runner during the "EPO era," it's likely that he, along with Bekele and Tergat, was doping in his prime years.
He was a part of the doped out group dropping the 5K record from ~12:58 to ~12:40 in a very short period of time. I'll go on record saying I think Geb and Bekele were dopers.
Not Cool Bro wrote:
Anyone who set records and won medals back before the EPO test and biological passport is automatically extremely suspect. It doesn't help his case that despite improvements in training/technology, no one comes close to the kind of times he and Bekele were running at 5K/10K.
I really hope that Haile was clean, but if I had to place a bet, I'd put my money on dirty.
Exactly what improvements have there been in training since the 90s?
Answer: none
Every generation believes they are more intelligent than the previous one.
Every generation should have learned a lot from the mistakes of the previous one. As for Geb, he is somewhat less suspicious than Paula (no suspicious blood values as far as we know, no performance drop after 2004 (other than age related)).
Geri wrote:
Every generation believes they are more intelligent than the previous one.
Interesting comments. Alas, we may never know. When I am honest with myself, I recognize a personal discrepancy: I was thrilled to see Lance Armstrong face the music. I would be sad to see the same happen to Geb. Of course, Geb would probably handle it differently.
Time for a line to be drawn on world records.
If he was clean during the whole time there was no EPO test whatsoever for 7 years it would be a miracle
These 2 guys Bekele and Geb wiped the floor with a bunch of EPO cheats
between 1993 and 2006
My money says they were doped all along
sc runner wrote:
I also have no insider knowledge, but given that he was the fastest runner during the "EPO era," it's likely that he, along with Bekele and Tergat, was doping in his prime years.
I do have insider knowledge and I don't believe he used drugs. He certainly may have, but I don't believe he did both due to a number of reasons, including his competitive record beyond the 1990s, as well as what he has personally said in private on the subject.
Left Said Fred wrote:
sc runner wrote:I also have no insider knowledge, but given that he was the fastest runner during the "EPO era," it's likely that he, along with Bekele and Tergat, was doping in his prime years.
I do have insider knowledge and I don't believe he used drugs. He certainly may have, but I don't believe he did both due to a number of reasons, including his competitive record beyond the 1990s, as well as what he has personally said in private on the subject.
My heart certainly hopes Geb is clean. I have no idea what "insider knowledge" you have or how we can verify that--but I hope you are right.