# Usain Bolt - Is he clear of doping allegations? **URL:** \ **Category:** The Game Room\ **Created:** [August 19, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266 "2016-08-19T01:57:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/1 "2016-08-19T01:57:50Z")
I have watched him in both the 100m and 200m this year and even though he is “slower” than his previous Olympics, it is unbelievable. Just totally amazing how fast he is. I believed in Mark McGwire and Sammy Sosa. I believed in Lance Armstrong. Are we foolish to believe in Usain Bolt? ---
**Author:** ![Reluctant\_A](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/839c29/32.png) [@Reluctant\_A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reluctant_A)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/2 "2016-08-19T02:01:18Z")
Clear? I don’t know why he would be. I’m predisposed to believe he’s clean, but Lance Armstrong destroyed my suspension of disbelief forevermore. They’ve probably got hundreds of Bolt’s samples frozen in carbonite, ready to re-test whenever they develop new testing technology. ---
**Author:** ![Mahaloth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mahaloth/32/1079_2.png) [@Mahaloth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mahaloth)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/3 "2016-08-19T02:08:44Z")
> [@Reluctant\_A](#): > > They’ve probably got hundreds of Bolt’s samples frozen in carbonite, ready to re-test whenever they develop new testing technology. Do they do this? ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/4 "2016-08-19T02:12:40Z")
Well he has been under the care of at least one strength and conditioning coach who was a known steroid dealer: [What Do Usain Bolt And Juan Manuel Marquez Have In Common? They Train With The Same Admitted Steroids Dealer.](http://deadspin.com/5857439/what-do-usain-bolt-and-juan-manuel-marquez-have-in-common-they-train-with-the-same-admitted-steroids-dealer) ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/5 "2016-08-19T02:22:25Z")
Well, who knows, but if he is juicing it’s on a program that is massively under the radar. Here’s a table of the top 10 male athletes with the lowest personal best: > **[The fastest men and their drug bans](https://track-stats.com/drug-100m-the-fastest-men-and-their-bans/)** > > No event garners the same attention as the 100m; it has the speed, the power and the intensity. Everything can change metre by metre and the outcome is never certain until athletes cross the line—or rather when the results are in from the drug... Most of the other guys who have ever ran superfast times have been busted at some point or another, including fellow Jamaicans. He’s an athlete who has had a trajectory from being a kid of extraordinary ability to now an elder statesman who is still fast enough to win at the Olympics, but is noticeably slower than he was (I thought he had to grind out the 200m tonight, that wasn’t effortless in the way it seemed before). He’s not busting out personal bests as he approaches 30, unlike some we’ve seen. So maybe he is just a once-in-a-lifetime amiable big freak of a dude. I’d like to hope so anyway. ---
**Author:** ![Baron\_Greenback](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/baron_greenback/32/48_2.png) [@Baron\_Greenback](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baron_Greenback)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 2:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/6 "2016-08-19T02:24:26Z")
> [@Mahaloth](#): > > Do they do this? Yep, one of the reasons that the Russian participation in these games has been somewhat curtailed is due to retests of samples from 2008 and 2012 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/7 "2016-08-19T03:38:43Z")
> [@Baron\_Greenback](#): > > So maybe he is just a once-in-a-lifetime amiable big freak of a dude. I’d like to hope so anyway. He’s the Secretariat of humans. The guy is a freak. It used to be received wisdom that you couldn’t be that tall and be a sprinter. Bolt wrecked that, but what’s amazing, if you think about it, is no one since has gone out and scouted out another sprinter as big as Bolt. Because, really, it \*\*shouldn’t \*\*be possible to be that tall and be a sprinter. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 3:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/8 "2016-08-19T03:54:24Z")
His mother was a sprinter as well. I suspect that it is just genetics. He has probably been tested more than any almost any other athlete. Yes, he had a coach that has put other athletes on various PED’s but Usain in all of his interviews seems like too honest of a guy to even try any of these PED’s Note that even on these PED’s, most athletes that take them still have to work and train very hard and they don’t help as much as many people think. However at the elite level, they can make a difference between first and eighth place. On the case of Usain, if he was using PED’s, I suspect he would have been caught by now. ---
**Author:** ![ssgenius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5ac83/32.png) [@ssgenius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ssgenius)\ **Post date:** [August 19, 2016, 4:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/9 "2016-08-19T04:05:41Z")
Also, he has been analyzed more than any other sprinter in history. Most of the analysis comes down to Long legs cover more distance in each stride so at the same stride rate, he covers more distance. Also, 6 - 5" is very tall for most guys and most 6-5" athletes go into other sports than sprinting ---
**Author:** ![drewder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/57b2e6/32.png) [@drewder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/drewder)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 3:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/10 "2016-08-21T15:02:03Z")
The question is did he do any of his training in Russia? ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/11 "2016-08-21T16:07:24Z")
Only five sprinters have run 9.75 or faster. Two are Americans, Justin Gatlin and Tyson Gay, and have both been busted for P.E.D.'s. The other three are Jamaicans. If you think that Jamaican dominance in the sprints is just some kind of coincidence, I have a Tour de France champion to sell you. I, too, would like to think that Bolt is simply a freak of nature. It’s possible. But the claim that he has been tested more than other athletes is simply untrue. For years, Jamaican athletes [weren’t being tested at all](http://www.denverpost.com/2015/06/29/jamaicas-anti-doping-agency-starts-collecting-athletes-blood-samples/) out of competition. Saving samples and making “biological passports” will help a little bit, but not much. The most popular current method, micro-dosing of testosterone and other substances, works because you can pass a basic test within hours, and a sophisticated test within a few days. ---
**Author:** ![up\_the\_junction](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/f1d935/32.png) [@up\_the\_junction](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/up_the_junction)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 5:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/12 "2016-08-21T17:52:09Z")
The miracle with Bolt is how a guy with legs like that isn’t 10m behind at the start. All that happens later in the race is his natural stride advantage has time to take effect - the miracle is how he gets out the blocks, and that has nothing to do with drugs. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2016, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/13 "2016-08-21T18:08:36Z")
> [@up\_the\_junction](#): > > The miracle with Bolt is how a guy with legs like that isn’t 10m behind at the start. > > All that happens later in the race is his natural stride advantage has time to take effect - the miracle is how he gets out the blocks, and that has nothing to do with drugs. You can’t really make that claim, considering that some P.E.D. use is specifically geared toward so-called “fast twitch” muscle fiber. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/14 "2016-08-22T03:35:03Z")
[Pretty well decisively addressed here](http://www.smh.com.au/sport/olympics/rio-2016/usain-bolt-undoubted-star-of-rio-olympics-but-is-he-too-good-to-be-true-20160817-gqussj.html) (Matt Shirvington was Australia’s most recent world class sprinter FYI). In brief, his running style (slow start, fast finish) is exactly the opposite of a drug cheat. What really puts him ahead is his stride length, which actually increases as the race goes on from 3m to 3.1m. ---
**Author:** ![BlankSlate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blankslate/32/80_2.png) [@BlankSlate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BlankSlate)\ **Post date:** [August 22, 2016, 2:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/15 "2016-08-22T14:19:02Z")
Decisively? Not even close. Shirvington obviously knows little about doping if he bases his opinion solely on explosive starts. That’s not why athletes use EPO or HGH. It’s not even a sole indicator of steroid use. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/16 "2016-08-25T14:47:52Z")
He went from a personal best of 10.03 to 9.69 at the Beijing Olympics a year later. That’s an incredible jump and I’m 99.99% sure that can only be accomplished via drugs. ---
**Author:** ![mcgato](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ac8455/32.png) [@mcgato](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mcgato)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/17 "2016-08-25T15:35:44Z")
You have to note that the 10.03 best in 2007 was his debut in a low key meet. That same year, he ran 19.75 in the 200 and got silver at the world championships. Plus he turned 21 in August of that year, so he was definitely still getting faster. Just look at his progression through the years: Year, age turned in August of that year, 100 best, 200 best. 2001 (15): n/a , 21.73 2002 (16): n/a , 20.58 2003 (17): n/a , 20.13 2004 (18): n/a , 19.93 WJR 2005 (19): n/a , 19.99 2006 (20): n/a , 19.88 2007 (21): 10.03 , 19.75 2008 (22): 9.69 WR, 19.30 WR 2009 (23): 9.58 WR, 19.19 WR 2010 (24): 9.82 , 19.56 2011 (25): 9.76 , 19.40 2012 (26): 9.63 , 19.32 2013 (27): 9.77 , 19.66 2014 (28): 9.98 , 19.55 2015 (29): 9.79 , 19.78 2016 (30): 9.81 , 19.78 I think that there is plausible deniability that he has been taking drugs. He set the still standing world junior record at 200 just before his 18th birthday. He has always had megastar potential. He has fulfilled that potential. But nothing in sports surprises me these days. ---
**Author:** ![treis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc79bd/32.png) [@treis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/treis)\ **Post date:** [August 25, 2016, 3:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/usain-bolt-is-he-clear-of-doping-allegations/763266/18 "2016-08-25T15:51:06Z")
> [@mcgato](#): > > You have to note that the 10.03 best in 2007 was his debut in a low key meet. That same year, he ran 19.75 in the 200 and got silver at the world championships. The 200 shows the same pattern. He improved dramatically going from 15-18, incremental improvements from 18-21, and then a massive jump from 21 to 22.