World Championship Athletics

[kinboshi]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

[bolt pp]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

[Wardonkey]

I think that it's pretty easy to identify certain athletes as dodgy and, equally, others are being legitimate because there is some other, obvious, reason for their great performances.

It's only relatively recently that many East African athletes (who are born with an advantage in long-distance running) were exposed to Western standards of nutrition and training, which has enabled them to fulfill their true potential. Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt have a totally different build and much more efficient running style than other runners.

Other records being broken are only slightly better than those before, which you will get as nutrition and training methods get better.

Rare logic failure MrT.

laborate?

When someone with a slightly different build and technique from the established norm for a successful sprinter starts tearing chunks off world records then it makes me more suspicious not less.

It's the very simplest of sports, if the way Bolt or Johnson runs is the fastest way there would many others running like they do.

I used to love the sport, but I can't watch it now. The cynic in me taints the experience of watching great performances, the greater the performance the more cynical I become.

[kinboshi]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

[bolt pp]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

dunno that might have been a bit unfair but he never looks anyone in the eye when he talks to them and i remember him getting caught up in his own hype a couple of years ago banging on about how he would smash edwards record, edwards just lol'd

[boldie]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

Red hair is a clue, no?



Seriously..a few years ago he was a bit of a cocky twat, he's allright these days though..seems to have grown up a bit.

[kinboshi]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

dunno that might have been a bit unfair but he never looks anyone in the eye when he talks to them and i remember him getting caught up in his own hype a couple of years ago banging on about how he would smash edwards record, edwards just lol'd

Edwards has always said that Idowu is capable of beating his world record, he just needs to bring it all together.

He's not the most intelligent bloke in the world, and is obviously uncomfortable being interviewed.  Just like lots of footballers.  Just because they excel at their sport, doesn't mean they have to like the camera or be comfortable with the media attention.

[kinboshi]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

Red hair is a clue, no?

Jealousy imo.

Seriously..a few years ago he was a bit of a cocky twat, he's allright these days though..seems to have grown up a bit.

I prefer him to Edwards.

[AndrewT]

I think that it's pretty easy to identify certain athletes as dodgy and, equally, others are being legitimate because there is some other, obvious, reason for their great performances.

It's only relatively recently that many East African athletes (who are born with an advantage in long-distance running) were exposed to Western standards of nutrition and training, which has enabled them to fulfill their true potential. Michael Johnson and Usain Bolt have a totally different build and much more efficient running style than other runners.

Other records being broken are only slightly better than those before, which you will get as nutrition and training methods get better.

Rare logic failure MrT.

laborate?

When someone with a slightly different build and technique from the established norm for a successful sprinter starts tearing chunks off world records then it makes me more suspicious not less.

It's the very simplest of sports, if the way Bolt or Johnson runs is the fastest way there would many others running like they do.

I used to love the sport, but I can't watch it now. The cynic in me taints the experience of watching great performances, the greater the performance the more cynical I become.

No, my logic is fine. Bolt won the 100m in 41 strides. Gay did it in 44. That is a tremendous advantage right there and helps explain how Bolt ran so quickly. There was a groupthink regarding athletics that guys who were 6'5" wouldn't be good sprinters so would be guided towards other events at an early age (or even out of athletics altogether to another sport with more money in it).

Other people can't just 'run like Bolt and Johnson do'. You can't run like Bolt if you're not 6'5". You can't run like Johnson if the ratio of your hip-to-knee/knee-to-ankle distance is significantly different from Johnson's, as it is that which gave him a more efficient running style.

'They're doing something different so must be on drugs' doesn't hold water.

[david3103]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

dunno that might have been a bit unfair but he never looks anyone in the eye when he talks to them and i remember him getting caught up in his own hype a couple of years ago banging on about how he would smash edwards record, edwards just lol'd

Edwards has always said that Idowu is capable of beating his world record, he just needs to bring it all together.

He's not the most intelligent bloke in the world, and is obviously uncomfortable being interviewed.  Just like lots of footballers.  Just because they excel at their sport, doesn't mean they have to like the camera or be comfortable with the media attention.

He was interviewed this morning on R4 and came across really well.

As for the 18m potential, if they'd measured the winning jump from his take-off point he'd have had that with his winning jump.

It's hard for the field sports competitors to stand out in a world where faster>longer/higher, the red hair certainly helps with that, as does the Gold Medal now.

[Wardonkey]

'They're doing something different so must be on drugs' doesn't hold water.

I agree, but the argument that they're doing something different therefore that it's less likely that they're on drugs doesn't hold water either.

That Johnson and Bolt found very different techniques to best use different physiques to run faster than their rivals seems reasonable. It doesn't make it any less reasonable to be suspicious of such incredible performances.

It's the performances themselves which raise suspicion, which is the greatest shame.

[AndrewT]

'They're doing something different so must be on drugs' doesn't hold water.

I agree, but the argument that they're doing something different therefore that it's less likely that they're on drugs doesn't hold water either.

That Johnson and Bolt found very different techniques to best use different physiques to run faster than their rivals seems reasonable. It doesn't make it any less reasonable to be suspicious of such incredible performances.

It's the performances themselves which raise suspicion, which is the greatest shame.

I don't think so - do you honestly believe that you think there is the same likelihood of Usain Bolt being on drugs than you thought there was of Ben 'looks like a condom full of walnuts and eyes out on stalks' Johnson being on drugs?

[Wardonkey]

'They're doing something different so must be on drugs' doesn't hold water.

I agree, but the argument that they're doing something different therefore that it's less likely that they're on drugs doesn't hold water either.

That Johnson and Bolt found very different techniques to best use different physiques to run faster than their rivals seems reasonable. It doesn't make it any less reasonable to be suspicious of such incredible performances.

It's the performances themselves which raise suspicion, which is the greatest shame.

I don't think so - do you honestly believe that you think there is the same likelihood of Usain Bolt being on drugs than you thought there was of Ben 'looks like a condom full of walnuts and eyes out on stalks' Johnson being on drugs?

I've not said that I think Bolt is on drugs, just that it is impossible to be sure that he is not. I sincerely hope that he is not. I'm saying that the sport is rendered meaningless to me now because so many athletes have been proven to be cheats after winning gold medals and breaking records. It's impossible to tell how many, or which, athletes have got away with it.

I was 15 when I watched Ben Johnson's performance in 1988, I did not suspect a thing, I was in awe. I felt betrayed and angry when the news of his positive test broke. I'm not so naive nowadays, I can't watch athletics without a nagging doubt.

[ACE2M]

Caster Semenya 18 year old 800 metre runner has had a drug test and it has revealed she is a man but maybe allowed to run.

[thetank]

Idowu finally brought it all together when it counted.  He looked properly stunned by the fact he'd won.  Hopefully, this will instill some further belief and he'll go on to jump 18m and still be the no.1 for 2012.

I hope not he's a prick

Really?  What's he done to be branded such?

Red hair is a clue, no?

Jealousy imo.

Seriously..a few years ago he was a bit of a cocky twat, he's allright these days though..seems to have grown up a bit.

I prefer him to Edwards.

[  ] shocked