pdex wrote:
Coevett wrote:
Yes they can. El G being able to churn out interval workout after interval workout at 1500 pace will help with his biomechanics. I'm a 25 minute 5k Parkrunner who doesn't know anything about running, but I can see that.
Drugs also help with domination.
El G never went unbeaten for 3 years like Ovett.
He never even had a Kiprop Kenyan type able to challenge him with full throttle EPO, aside from Lagat who would have been tested much more (and of course failed an A sample).
Sub 3:30 33 times (El G) vs. Sub 3:30 0 times (Ovett). Scoreboard.
Cry drugs all you want - you've no substance to back it up. Just the same lame arguments about training partners and countrymen.
Ramzi and very probably Kiprop have clearly demonstrated how much difference EPO makes, especially close to full throttle in Ramzi's case.
Let's be conservative and say full throttle EPO improves 1500 times by 3 seconds at the elite level. El G would still have 5 times under 3:30 and 9 times under 3:31, which is impressive on the face of it.
But then you consider he was probably on HGH and other stuff, the improvements in tracks, and the fact that El G had EPO laden pacemakers able to take him to the bell in ridiculous times. That should take another 2 seconds off his times if you're comparing him to an Ovett era athlete, who didn't even chase times aside from when he was going for the 1500 or Mile WR a couple of times a year between 1979 and 81 (and once in 83). El G was getting sub 3:30 paced races around 6 or 7 times a season for close to a decade.
It's just ridiculous to compare El G to any other era. He dominated the EPO era, that's all we can say, and made a hell of a lot of money. Good for him.