"Why is Paula doing this?" said Gyulai. "This is the most attractive athlete in the world who has done so much for her sport with her performances and stance against drugs. But this is harming her reputation and is not a positive contribution to her image."
Weldon,
I will assume that reasonable people can and do differ about whether a women's "world best" should be officially "recognized" if it is run with the assistance of male windbreaks and pacemakers, and whether there is a principled difference between such arrangements in a mixed race and such arrangements in a "women-only" race. Still, I agree with Gyulai. Aside from big monetary incentives that London is presumably throwing her way if she delivers a fast time, why is Paula doing this? Speaking only for myself, I can say, as a matter of fact, that I think less of Paula now than I did a week ago. I doubt that I am alone in that sentiment. Her image as a gutsy frontrunner is tarnished, at least in my eyes, by the perception that she has requested that she be provided with male pacemakers to achieve a faster performance than she could deliver on her own. The fact that London has chosen to provide her with those male pacemakers in a "women-only" race simply heightens the sense of unseemliness.