Thanks, smart guy. Do you have anything to add other than a snarky comment? Run along, now.
Yeah, I’m very familiar with Edwin Moses and his dominant streak. I watched many of his races, but was too young to be conscious of PED’s at the time. If PED’s were used by his top challengers, then he used too. Period. Proof is not always available. Many dirty athletes piss clean through the use of masking agents and masking strategies. Do you think that Ben Johnson failed the first test that he took? How many tests did Marion Jones pass? Anyone with any remote knowledge of track and field’s recent history should understand that testing always lags the new cheating aid. There are doctors all over the Caribbean and Europe that come up with all sorts of masking strategies for a price.
In track, these athletes are testing the limits of the human body and are only separated by hundredths of seconds. Similarly gifted and trained athletes that are enhanced by drugs won’t lose on a consistent basis to a clean athlete. The only way that Bolt is clean is if the entire sport dramatically cleaned itself up. But I’d wager that Bolt is fortunate to be running at a point when whatever he’s taking can’t be found. And his rise HAS been quite dramatic. He wasn’t even favored to win the 100 in the Olympics. Look at what’s happened in less than 12 months.
Like everyone else, I wish he was clean too. But Kim Kardashian isn’t sitting on my lap right now.
Bolt is pretty young. HGH and steroids are supposed to be extra bad for people under 25. I guess we’ll have our answer if he’s all fucked up and/or dead in his 30s or 40s. Until then I guess I’ll give him the benefit of the doubt because (1) I’m totally biased (I like him) (2) he hasn’t failed any tests (3) if he’s using, his competitors unfortunately probably are too.
Bolt was absolutely favored to win the 100 last year. He did not appear out of nowhere, having been on the 2004 team as a 17 year old. I’ve said this earlier, but I’ll repeat it - it is because of his length. He takes 5 or 6 fewer strides than the rest of the field in the 100. If he were American, he would not be a runner, he would be a shooting guard or a wide receiver.
Moses’ success was due largely in part to his technical proficiency, which is the difference between winning and losing; having personally competed in the 400 meter IH, I can vouch for the importance of that.
Ben Johnson’s rise from world class to world best was way too dramatic for me to assume that he was clean; I feel the same way about Florence Griffith-Joyner, and her death certainly makes the shadow of doubt greater. Marion Jones body changed over the years as she turned into a hulking freak.
He broke the world record a few months before the Olympics. That’s how I knew about him. I was flipping through the channels and happened to catch that live. If anyone else was favored I’m guessing it could’ve been Gay, but wasn’t he having hamstring issues at the time?
I remember all the talk about Asafa Powell being the favorite. Bolt and Gay were the only other 2 in the conversation.
However, I was wrong…
Even if he is using, they aren’t enough to put him so far ahead. His competitors, (if using) are still fighting to stay within a few hundredths of each other. He’s so far ahead that I’ll bet he would still be dominant without PEDs. I’m not saying I think he’s using or not, I don’t know.