ggilder wrote:
TAGAWIA wrote: Yes...but of course to go from barely being in contention in your mid 20s to ALWAYS being in contention and almost never losing from your late 20s to mid 30s is a huge red flag regarding doping.
At age 22, after winning a series of British xcountry championships, Farah ran 13:09 for the 5000m and 7:34 for 3000m. He was clearly an awesome talent. What needs to be explained is his lackluster years in between these exemplary times at 22 and his breakthroughs after 27. Perhaps, Salazar is a great coach.
Are you sure? It appears that Farah ran 7:34 at age 26 and not at age 22. It also appears that Mo ran 13:09 at age 23. That does show some talent but remember, Mo was not winning much and he was likely hanging on and running as fast as he could. The world beater Mo, doped as he was, was generally NOT running for time, unless you include the 1500m, where he improved from a pb of 3:38 at 25 to 3:28 with the doping. Mo was also NOT a 12:53 and 26:46 runner in terms of ability. Mo could have been dragged to 12:40 and 26:25, a vast improvement from that 13:09 when he was young.