ghenghisclown wrote on 08/18/12 at 09:57:46:


I'm not justifying anything. I'm pointing out three things:

#1) Purity of sport is subjective.

#2) Individuals can always come together, form an agreement on what they think constitutes rules to the sport, and compete against eachother.

#3) It's not cheating if it's allowed. It is cheating if it isn't allowed. Period.

It's also quite funny that Blake is faster now, than he was when he got caught for doping! Sheesh, must have been some mighty weak doping, if he is better without it than with it, if it's that weak, I don't even see a reason to keep it banned.

There is a reason why there where so many new records in the Olympic games 2008, and less this year, just google steroids cycling aswell as follow the advances in WADA testing, and you will most likely start seeing what really goes on in the absolutely top of sports.

Cheaters everywhere! Omigod...
http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/08/16/teen-kicked-out-of-scrabble-tournament-for-...

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Yes I agree on that, taking on account that the rest of the world´s top sprinters come from West Africa. I know that Jamaicans have a long tradition and this could be their moment in time like in the past we had Carl Lewis or Ben Johnson. In terms of genetics I was thinking more about the diferences to others not beeing part of top sprinters or other countries not related to West Africa. Other sports like swimming, cycling and weight lifting that are dominated by asian or whites come to mind and the diference between aerobic and anaerobic sports. In the end, I believe that the power of the mind or mental strenght like it happens in tennis, can make a diference too with all the other factors, like history, motivation, culture etc. 

http://run-down.com/guests/je_black_athletes_p1.php

Smyslov_Fan wrote on 08/13/12 at 15:01:59:

Not really, he is more of an oddball in the sprinting arena. With his build you'd expect him in a lot of sports, but not the 100 meters.
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First there is no pre-doping era, the ancient Greeks already used performance enhancing stuff. Second in those days the doping was less of an advantage, due to there being less competition and people didnt check or care about it. Heck Merckx (the all time great of cycling) recently admitted using the stuff and nobody cared. The difference now is that the amount/effectiveness is bigger and that it is criminalised up to the point that people should be available for checking 24/7 and that you get prosecuted for taking a cough medicine.
Third I hope Bannister was indeed before your time
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Of course, on the other hand it can't be excluded either. That's the pity of this era. Luckily at chess we only have coffee as performance enhancing drug, or rather the anti French exchange drug.

Antillian wrote on 08/12/12 at 12:46:00:

No it is just that usually after 20 years we get told that indeed there was doping or at the very least a big suspicion. This goes for almost all performance sports, from sprinting to cycling and swimming. For the rest the whole doping control system seems more like an IQ test for athletes than anything else, only the stupid ones get caught.

@Mortal Games,

You are missing the point that Jamaicans do not come from a gene pool that is distinctive  from that of the rest of the world's top sprinters. Notably while most of the attention is understandably being focused on Jamaica - more and more Caribbean islands are starting to produce world class athletes. By and large, the bulk of the top sprinters in the world - US, Canadian, Caribbean, European and African tend to be of West African descent. One can debate over the role of  genetics versus socio-economic factors of this group as a whole. 

However, if you were to take Jamaica as a subset of this group, you have to look at other factors. And there are a myriad of factors that make Jamaica stand out with respect to its small population and limited resources. 

For example compare the opportunities for a talented person with athletic ability in the US to the opportunities for a similar person in Jamaica. The talented youngster in US has opportunities to excel and make a living in basketball, American football, baseball, ice hockey and many other fields - many of which are potentially more lucrative that track and field. 

The talented youngster in Jamaica has far less options for professional sport. There is cricket (not really that lucrative) and to a lesser extent, he can try football (aka soccer) and hope that some scout from some mid level European cup notices him. And if that youngster is a woman, there are even less options, which may explain why Jamaica  has over time won more Olympic medals in women events than in male events. Thus, relatively speaking track and field is a far more attractive option for the talented Jamaican that for the talented American. 

In addition, the  opportunity to get an athletic scholarship to a US college is a significant magnet that lures many Jamaican and Caribbean athletes. While Bolt and Blake train at home under a Jamaican coach, in the past most top Jamaican and Caribbean athletes have trained in the US. Kirani James - the diminutive 19 year old Grenadian that won gold in the 400m this last week - shattering the US 28 year old hold on that title trains in Alabama on an athletic scholarship. Even if they don't make it on big on the world stage  - they get a free or significantly subsidised education - a significant motivator for a relatively poor country like Jamaica

Lastly, though the evidence is anecdotal, there is no doubt in my mind that the culture in Jamaican plays a part. Jamaica has a rich track and field tradition. Its first Olympic gold medal was in the 400m sprint in 1948. While Jamaica is getting far more attention now because of Bolt, they have been consistently  winning Olympic medals for decades.  A friend was recently describing the atmosphere she witnessed at a mere high school track and field meet that she attended in Jamaica - with huge crowds and an electrifying atmosphere  - second to none she had witnessed anywhere else. This testified to the high esteem in which the sport was held locally.