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Mo runs away from things; that's what he does
Well, in Farah's defense I'm sure all of that would have been a huge distraction during the meet. Who wants to compete under that kind of pressure/scrutiny.
He's a world class, well-compensated, professional athlete, "pressure" and "scrutiny" are part of the package. I think he made the wrong decision on this one.
That's about how I see it. Even if he got his a** whupped and ran a 3:42 in Birmingham, that would be making a statement. By jetting off to Portland hiding he's making quite another statement.
Fair point. I like the guy (for no real reason, really, as I don't know him) so I want to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Mo has a great story and a lot of charm. The 2012 10000 meters was one of the most memorable races ever. What a moment, and I hope that it was for real and that they did it within in the rules. So far Mo hasn't been implicating in doing anything illegal, but there are questions about his association with Salazar and Rupp. I didn't watch the interview from last weekend but did read the articles. The jackals on Letsrun are saying that his body language indicates some sort of guilt.All that aside, the one thing that does make me wonder most about Mo is his huge improvement in the 1500 meters. PR of 3:34 in 2011 and then dropping a 3:28 last year. That is just so huge for an athlete (getting to late career) who was already world class (sub 13 5000 m) prior to joining Salazar's group. Overall, this whole deal is kind of depressing and I probably need to step away. Have followed it closely since it broke last week, and it's just getting me down.
Salazar's wins in Boston, New York and his 10K times are suspect too.
Had an interesting dinner the other night with some old friends who were former Nike athletes, ran in the 1970s and 80s, and each spent several years in Eugene.Things got rolling in 1976 when Nike decided that it was time to level the playing field, so they created Athletics West. They hired Dick Brown, a physiologist whose primary job was to help give athletes that extra edge while keeping them under the radar. The program thrived for nearly a decade before disbanding, following the death of 23 year old Jeff Drenth who died from a heart attack. Our friend reeled off name after name of Athletics West athletes who were on something or another during that era (the program kind of had two camps, those following Brown and those staying with Bob Sevene who did not support enhancement). According to our friend about half of the 1980-84 Olympic athletes (Salazar included) were on something. And it's been pretty well documented that the 1984 Olympic Trials were a sham, that many of the stars tested postive, and all that TAC (the USATF of its day) did was bring in the athletes and tell them to clean up by the time the LA Games started. A lot of that culture probably never left Eugene/Portlant--as well as other parts of the region/country. However if all they have is the evidence that was in the BBC documentary not much will come of it; in fact if anything the Gouchers and Magness could be in for some retribution - ala Lance.
Turning up the heat. Three more NOP athletes step forth. Magness reveals veiled email threat from Salazar.http://www.propublica.org/article/more-athletes-say-track-coach-alberto-salazar-broke-drug-rules
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Topic: BBC documentary on doping - Salazar accusations (Read 23889 times)
