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Lead Stories: Monday, December 1, 2008

World Records and Doping Suspicions

Posted June 10th, 2008 at 10:00 AM by Jesse Squire

Section: News & Results, Track & Field, Drugs In Sports

We get a fantastic world record in the 100 meters, and one of the first questions is about drugs. From the New York Times:

When Usain Bolt of Jamaica set a world record of 9.72 seconds at 100 meters Saturday night, two questions became urgent:

Was the supporting tailwind legal?

Was Bolt himself legal?

Track and field has become so compromised by doping that any startling performance brings immediate suspicion. Even before the race at the Reebok Grand Prix meet on Randall’s Island, Bolt and his top challenger, the 2007 world champion Tyson Gay, faced inevitable questions from reporters about performance-enhancing drugs. The pre-race inquiries have become as routine as the postrace drug screens.

The purists and the pollyannas alike bemoan this state of affairs. And while the comedians and cartoonists have (rightly) turned their doping jokes towards baseball instead of track, they still don’t get the same treatment. Manny Ramirez smacked his 500th career home run this week and did not have to answer these kind of questions.

Will track ever be rid of this suspicion? I say not any time soon, and maybe never.
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