I've read too many books on cycling and doping to think anything other than "this guy has some good drugs" whenever a cyclist is successful. Virtually impossible to detect a good cheater as the doping tests are always 10 years behind the new substances and the new ways of concealing it. Firmly believe you can't get anywhere near the top without doping.
[Other Sport] Paris 2024 Olympics & Paralympics ***Official Match Thread***
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maltaseagull
Well-known member
Surely that also applies to other sports?
Individual sports yes. More difficult in team sports I imagine.
But cycling and long skiing are the two sports where if you read enough there's not a lot of "maybes" left. Just dirt.
Thunder Bolt
Silly old bat
I’m not sure if you count diving as swimming but GB women took the bronze in synchronised 10m dive, and one of them Andrea Spendolini is still in the competition for individual 10m diving.
It does actually - I thought we were further through the 16 days! Cheers
Nice. Have a great day
Ali_rrr
Well-known member
Essentially a lot of investment and diversification of sports. Rowing is a much bigger sport than before. They're expecting some more medals soon.
nwgull
Well-known member
I’ve been really fortunate this time that I have had the chance to watch loads of it since day 1. My life is going to feel a bit empty on Monday.
If I feel like this as a TV viewer, I can only imagine how the post-Olympic blues feels like to the athletes that have been building towards this for the last 4 years!
Nobby Cybergoat
Well-known member
- Jul 19, 2021
- 8,625
The thing that makes me believe that's not true, is that every single person involved, every athlete, coach, support person, courier and supplier all have to stay silent on this. And that's from every country, even after they've retired. Every young person who comes into the sport, tries getting to the top, sees what's going on then comes out of the sport. They all have to be silent.
It would be the most astonishing conspiracy. The ultimate omerta.
I don't buy it. I'm very willing to believe that Russia wasn't the only state sponsor of drug taking and in some teams, it's widespread and covered up by national authorities. I'm also willing to believe there are pockets of dodgy athletes and coaches dotted around.
hart's shirt
Well-known member
Me too.
I was in the Athens stadium 20 years ago for both of Kelly's golds in 2004. Unforgettable moments.
Ended up seeing 7 out of the 9 golds for GB - cycling (Hoy and Wiggins), equestrian (Law), rowing (Pinsent's 4th) and the athletics (4 x 100m).
The only ones missed were the 2 sailing medals for Ben Ainslie ruling the waves and Shirley Robertson and her fellow sailors.
The best way I found to do the Olympics was with a few 'bankers for GB medals', other sports where we had a chance and some fun randoms:
- Women's modern pentathlon (Georgie Harland - bronze)
- Boxing finals (Amir Khan - silver)
- Men's football final (Tevez winner for Argentina and South American carnage with 2 Paraguayans sent off)
- Women's Marathon finish (Paula Radcliffe never made it home, but well worth the 10 Euro ticket price)
- Swimming (Phelps and Thorpe)
- Closing ceremony
You'll love it!
nwgull
Well-known member
Timing of these women’s 1500m heats are a bit crap, aren’t they? 5K and 800m finals about 14 hours ago and there are usually plenty that would want to double up.
I had to turn the BBC off the other day, feel like I need a pop up blocker. They seem to be putting pop ups on screen every few minutes advertising iplayer, events coming up, stuff on other channels at the same time, what's on tomorrow, QR codes. All I want to do is watch what's on without being distracted.
On Sunday I was watching the tennis and right at match point they put one up over the left hand corner so big it covered the player serving for the match ffs! Discovery plus coverage on the other hand has been awesome but BBC still have some of the best commentators and summarisers.
I just turn it off every time Claire Balding appears.
There's plenty of 80s world records clearly made by people who were doping but where there's not been evidence to revoke it. Nothing says its any different today. You have to go no further than watching the Ikaros documentary to see WADA officials saying in interviews that there's realistically no chance to stop people from cheating and getting away with it. You basically have to mess up.
Nobby Cybergoat
Well-known member
- Jul 19, 2021
- 8,625
I think the different was in the 80's there were states backing them up (notably East Germany). Those people you could visibly tell were dosed to the eyeballs and I understand many of these suffered serious health complications.
Like I say I don't doubt there are pockets. But your suggestion above that you can't get anywhere near the top without doping sounds implausible
nwgull
Well-known member
Unfortunately this is true. If you're a medical expert, there's far more money to be made helping an elite athlete cheat his/her way to an Olympic gold and remain undetected than there is in catching them, so WADA are always going to be a step behind. And I think it's fair to say that some national associations are more co-operative with WADA than others.
UK athletics, to its credit, bans anyone testing positive for life from Olympic competition, as well as the usual 1-2 years ban from any competition. There's been a few high-profile US and Jamaican sprinters that have won Olympic medals following positive tests and bans.
