Fantastic Johnny Gray interview now live

World champ 800m wrote:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Konchellah

Koncheallah racked up a few rape and drugs charges and served time in jail.

More than a few. This article wasn't trying to be vague. Getting his comeuppance, according to Johnny, in addition to previously living and training in the US under an American coach pretty much narrows it down to him.

"Pervert Runner" is a redundant expression.

El Keniano wrote:

World champ 800m wrote:https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Billy_Konchellah

Koncheallah racked up a few rape and drugs charges and served time in jail.

More than a few. This article wasn't trying to be vague. Getting his comeuppance, according to Johnny, in addition to previously living and training in the US under an American coach pretty much narrows it down to him.

https://www.thefreelibrary.com/PERVERT+RUNNER+TO+BE+DEPORTED%3B+World+champ+faces+new+rape+charge.-a0126841237

Also, Konchellah famously had asthma so he could’ve had a host of TUEs hence the not getting caught.

As for his comments about Wilson and Lipsey, they are quite ungracious and typical of the “I can’t beat them so they must be cheating” crowd. But then again, Wilson did fail a test. No two ways.

I agree with this, and I think this ties back to the Gray interview's point about "if you take this, you will be the first one under 1:40" - it is no wonder that Gray is suspicious about these kinds of developments, especially when the several years older training partner also has a sudden 3 second improvement in the same year and you have an excused-away positive in the same year.

Wilson's "steady" progression? A lot of similarities to Genzebe Dibaba. The big jump from world class to absolute top after a relative down year. The same age, too (around 24).

2015 3:50.07

2014 4:01.00

2013 3:57.54

2012 3:57.77

2011 4:05.90

2010 4:06.10

Billy Konchellah had asthma - at least this was the explanation for the form swings. Dunno who his coach was.

You dunno???

I know that you must be from... the Ivy League.

Yale?

Princeton?

Dartmouth?

...or are you a loser from a Penn State fraternity?

It looks like Yale really SUCKS at cross country:

*****

If Your Ivy League Team Runs So Bad That You Don’t Record a Score in Cross Country, You Still Should Be Listed in Last.

Last year, we RANTED about how it drives us NUTS that when a team scores ZERO POINTS at a conference meet in track & field, they often won’t show up at all in the team standings.

That’s STUPID.

List them in last with ZERO..

Last week, we had a similar thing happen in cross country.

As we were scouring the NCAA Pre-Nats results for the results of YALE University – the beloved alma mater of LetsRun.com CO-FOUNDER WELDON JONSON – we noticed that YALE HAD 3 DNFs.

(It is just a coincidence.)

Wait a minute, wouldn’t that by definition mean they only had four scorers?

Yes, it would, as you can only run seven at Pre-Nats.

But does Yale show up as the last-place team in the Pre-Nats results?

No, they do not. Instead, they were just left off of the team results. That makes no sense.

If you don’t score in a football game, they don’t fail to put you up on the scoreboard. A team that fails to record a team score should be listed in last with an incomplete next to their name.

If more than one team is incomplete, then we think the teams should be ranked by whoever had the most finishers (or lowest score if they have the same number of finishers).

This is how it should look (with the addition of Yale’s finishers’ places on the right).

yale-dnf-incomplete

Making matters worse is the Yale sports information department also acted like Yale didn’t enter a team as they simply listed the individual results.

Come on people.

At least admit we are keeping team scores at these competitions or that three guys didn’t finish.

It is newsworthy...at LetsRun.com

We are the Ivy League YALE fraternity alpha males...WITH ZERO POINTS.

Hey Ivy League Fraternity Alpha Males from... Yale, Princeton, and Dartmouth.

You are a total joke.

Take a look at the trophy for the Cross Country team from...Flagstaff, Arizona:

https://www.facebook.com/hypo2/photos/a.181731141864880.32731.154386924599302/1127014210669897/?type=3

Have a nice day.

ha ha ha

El Keniano wrote:Also, Konchellah famously had asthma so he could’ve had a host of TUEs hence the not getting caught.

utter nonsense

you think it was better for him not to take asthma pumps & die from an asthma attack ???

you think asthma pumps are a PED ???

calculo wrote:

El Keniano wrote:Also, Konchellah famously had asthma so he could’ve had a host of TUEs hence the not getting caught.

utter nonsense

you think it was better for him not to take asthma pumps & die from an asthma attack ???

you think asthma pumps are a PED ???

No, that's not what I said. I just stated that his asthma (which by all accounts wasn't mild but extremely severe) probably came with a bunch of TUEs that would probably explain whatever medication he would take for his condition, that, as far as Johnny was concerned, was banned and therefore cheating, but Billy would openly take and even brag about as aiding his running.

Remember Billy was US based at the time so this would come from American doctors.

Close, but not Nixon

Subway Surfers Addiction wrote:

El Keniano wrote:

My uncle has lots of VHS and cassette tapes he recorded from TV and radio interviews of athletes. I heard an interview he gave to BBC radio before the Olympic final in Barcelona in 1992. He said he was planning "on going out hard and taking everyone to what I like to call the 'twilight zone'. That way I think I can beat the African runners".

William Tanui and Nixon Kiprotich did catch him in the final metres, but I don't think it's fair to blame Jose Luis Barbosa for tripping him. In another BBC interview right after the race, he said his back kick caught someone. Not the same thing.

If it is Nixon Kiprotich, I'd be shattered

I thought Konch also had malaria..another explanation for big form swings.

TiberiuSSS wrote:

I thought Konch also had malaria..another explanation for big form swings.

Malaria is common in Kenya. First thing clinics default test for when people go to hospital. We get it so many times some of us build some sort of immunity against weaker strains. However, contracting a serious case can throw off an athlete's entire season.

i had heard that some "docs" administer EPO, and have the paper work etc claiming its to fight malaria if a positive happens.

anyone else heard of this excuse to explain and EPO bust?

Great interview. Don't know anything how Johnny was when he was active, but I love his candid answers in this interview.

Well done, all of you.

Didn't read the article so there's that.... but damn if the QOTD didn't sound like some lance Armstrong 'why would I dope I'm already the best' type sh!t

Wilson had an iron deficiency in 2016 and got injured before worlds in 2015. Two separate issues. Prior to the iron deficiency in 2016 she had a great Indoor season and finished second to Niyonsaba at world indoors. I also don’t think it’s fair to compare going from 3:57 to 3:50, to 1:57 to 1:55, especially since Ajee ran that time chasing Caster and Niyonsaba, unlike Dibaba having to run the last 700 meters of her time trial alone once Price dropped out. She also finally had a training partner in Lipsey this year which I think is a huge help compared to training with teenage boys previously.

Are we 100% sure he was talking about Billy Konchellah (I personaly hate when you make bold statments without acutally providing a name, as it starts to tarnish other athletes by assumption).

Billy's races leading in to the 87 World Champs

1:43.98 1st Koblenz 13 AUG

1:44.17 1st Koln 16 AUG

1:44.40 1st Berlin 21 AUG

1:43.07 1st World Champs Rome 1 SEP

This is hardly an athlete jumping from 1:53 to 1:43 in a few weeks. Billy was rolling and was a clear favorite heading in.

JG may be talking about his 1991 WC's win when Billy ran 1:43.99 - I can't find any results from that year, apart from the 1:43.96 he ran a few weeks later - but he was ranked number 2 in the world that year....and then came 3rd in the 1993 WC's (along with a 4th in the 84 OG's).

A simple name would make this all a little easier.

Great interview. Was specifically interested in learning about his training.

JRinaldi wrote:

A simple name would make this all a little easier.

Exactly. Especially since he says he's talked about it before. All this does is make us speculate about other athletes.