Usain Bolt Interview

[StephenZA]

Usain Bolt on doping and marriage: 'Girls are throwing themselves at you... it's hard to say no'

Enjoy this mans attitude to life. Would love for him to get the gold in Rio again.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

He does sell a good yarn.

I just can't believe 9.58 though.

 

[social]

Great runner but given his country's attitude towards drugs, the chances of him being clean are somewhere between nil and zero

 

[vcs]

His run in the World Championships (in 2010, I think?) was breath-taking.

Kind of weird that Christianity seems to have quite a strong hold in Jamaican society, but they don't seem to particularly care about fidelity in relationships.

 

[StephenZA]

Great runner but given his country's attitude towards drugs, the chances of him being clean are somewhere between nil and zero

He is the most tested athlete in athletics history... did not think he has ever missed a test and always been open for more when asked.

Unfortunately, this is one of the problems with people/associations/countries doing drugs and getting a stigma it almost becomes assumed that anybody associated with that person is also doing it, regardless of other facts. Everything I read about him is that he is just a freak... he does not even have a classic 100 m runners build.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

His run in the World Championships (in 2010, I think?) was breath-taking.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

He is the most tested athlete in athletics history...

this is just a blatant lie by his PR boys. Nobody knows who this actually is, because rightly, who gets tested and when is a privacy issue.

He gets tested in-competition, which is true. But Jamaica didnt have an Anti-Doping Agency when he got through there as kid, so they could have done anything.

I mean I'm sure he has some favourable genetics to start with, but it was the perfect place to manufacture a superhuman.

 

[Magrat Garlick]

The Science of Sport: Beijing 2008: Discovering Usain Bolt

A bit more balanced view.

 

[StephenZA]

this is just a blatant lie by his PR boys. Nobody knows who this actually is, because rightly, who gets tested and when is a privacy issue.

He gets tested in-competition, which is true. But Jamaica didnt have an Anti-Doping Agency when he got through there as kid, so they could have done anything.

I mean I'm sure he has some favourable genetics to start with, but it was the perfect place to manufacture a superhuman.

Yes buts thats the whole point, he has always been open about this he has not maintained secrecy and always being willing to give more when asked. Unlike many athletes. So while Jamaica Anti-doping is weak the scrutiny he has received from the world has produced nothing, not a single thing. This is contrary to somebody like Armstrong, for example, which controlled his doping testing rigorously and their was always hints and accusations from inside members that he was doping. Eventually it all came out.

The Science of Sport: Beijing 2008: Discovering Usain Bolt

A bit more balanced view.

This whole blog/discussion (from 2008) shows my point of view... the cynics without any evidence assume and state he must be doping for reasons that has nothing to do with him. And subsequently he has now spent an additional 8 years in the limelight being tested and still nothing.

Maybe it is my naivety, but I need definite proof before I assume somebody is doping.

BBC tarnishes the name of Usain Bolt - Telegraph

 

[Magrat Garlick]

Yes buts thats the whole point, he has always been open about this he has not maintained secrecy and always being willing to give more when asked. Unlike many athletes. So while Jamaica Anti-doping is weak the scrutiny he has received from the world has produced nothing, not a single thing. This is contrary to somebody like Armstrong, for example, which controlled his doping testing rigorously and their was always hints and accusations from inside members that he was doping. Eventually it all came out.

The problem with Armstrong was that the signs were there. In plain sight. And they were being distributed. But no one cared because they wanted to believe it - only after his career was over was it safe to tear him down.

We know the IAAF testing process is corrupt - just see how long it took them to take action on Russia. So even if he is tested by them, so what? There are ways to make things disappear.

Bolt is also anything but transparent. He competes once or twice a year at carefully managed meets, there are always rumours dropped by his PR team that he will compete and then suddenly the day before he withdraws. He withdraws from qualification races with injuries but now in London his body was totally fine again. He is never injured at the wrong time (most athletes miss a championship because but no never the great Bolt).

But yeah nothing good can come of this - we will know at some point but it will probably be after his career is over.

 

[jonbrooks]

The Science of Sport: Beijing 2008: Discovering Usain Bolt

A bit more balanced view.

Interesting read. What I find funny is the writer never questions Carl Lewis or Michael Johnson, both world record holders in their time. Is it cos they were Americans and Americans can't do no wrong? What about Gatlin, who at the ripe old age of 34 may yet beat bolt in the 100m final! Now that would be something.

 

[jonbrooks]

The problem with Armstrong was that the signs were there. In plain sight. And they were being distributed. But no one cared because they wanted to believe it - only after his career was over was it safe to tear him down.

We know the IAAF testing process is corrupt - just see how long it took them to take action on Russia. So even if he is tested by them, so what? There are ways to make things disappear.

Bolt is also anything but transparent. He competes once or twice a year at carefully managed meets, there are always rumours dropped by his PR team that he will compete and then suddenly the day before he withdraws. He withdraws from qualification races with injuries but now in London his body was totally fine again. He is never injured at the wrong time (most athletes miss a championship because but no never the great Bolt).

But yeah nothing good can come of this - we will know at some point but it will probably be after his career is over.

If Bolt is doping then he must have the best drugs known to mankind. Now there is a possibility that this is the case and somehow the Americans or Japanese have synthesized these drugs and carefully supplied them to Bolt. I seriously doubt Jamaican pharmaceutical companies (if any exist) could do such a thing. Furthermore the drugs being taken by Bolt are so damn good that even after 8 years his samples from Beijing are not showing any signs of doping.

Having said that you make some good points about Bolt not showing to meets or cancelling at the last minute. I am not sure what to make of it. People who have followed Bolt seem to think he is lazy in ordinary tournaments but rises to the occasion at big events.

 

[Furball]

The cynic in me just refuses to believe that he can do what he does clean.

And regardless of whether he is clean or not, that is the damage that doping does to a sport's credibility.

 

[Victor Ian]

I think it is a shame the best track runners can not win as many medals as the best swimmers. How many golds might Bolt have if he could run 100m and 200m backwards, sideways, skipping ways and had a medley relay too boot?

I'd like to see a run/swim off between bolt and phelps where they run 200m straight into a dive in a pool for a 100m swim

 

[hendrix]

He is the most tested athlete in athletics history... did not think he has ever missed a test and always been open for more when asked.

Unfortunately, this is one of the problems with people/associations/countries doing drugs and getting a stigma it almost becomes assumed that anybody associated with that person is also doing it, regardless of other facts. Everything I read about him is that he is just a freak... he does not even have a classic 100 m runners build.

Don't tell me people are still using this argument. I mean, do I really have to bring up the same Marion Jones and Lance Armstrongs? Tested more than any other athletes and always returned clean tests.

Moreover, if it's that easy for athletes to dupe USADA officials who live in first world countries on first world wages, how easy do you think it is to slip a bribe to someone in Jamaica? And hell, even if you fail a test it can still be covered up - see Tyson Fury...

Finally, unless the testers are running very, very expensive testing equipment, it is quite easy to pass. Just keep your testosterone within a normal range for the test, drink a lot of coffee, dilute your urine etc etc. As they say, it's more of an IQ test for your doctors than anything else.

 

[Victor Ian]

Usain may or may not be pushing the rules (cheating) but I think if he is, then so is everyone else. I don't know if that is naive or not.

 

[Furball]

Every athlete takes PEDs.

The top athletes will have legal and medical teams that ensure that they are on the right side of the line.

 

[hendrix]

I wouldn't say that every athlete does.

I would say all of the track and field athletes do, all of the weightlifters, most NFL players, most soccer players, 90% of professional cyclists etc etc.

 

[vcs]

I think it is a shame the best track runners can not win as many medals as the best swimmers. How many golds might Bolt have if he could run 100m and 200m backwards, sideways, skipping ways and had a medley relay too boot?

I'd like to see a run/swim off between bolt and phelps where they run 200m straight into a dive in a pool for a 100m swim

Of course you're right, but I don't think most people would just compare the total medal tallies to determine the greatness of athletes.

They're both two of the greatest Olympians of all time, but somehow Phelps strikes me as having the charisma of a plastic bag. Bolt is just the opposite. I loved guys like Matt Biondi and Ian Thorpe, but I just can't warm to Phelps in the same way. He's just too.. perfect.

 

[Jono]

he took recreational drugs, so he ain't a robot.