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Athletics/Track & Field
Topic Started: Aug 1 2008, 11:11 AM (715 Views)
Manzanares
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One of the sports I most look forward to at every Olympics is Athletics, known in some parts of the world as Track & Field. But sadly like cycling this is a sport which has been plagued with doping scandals and just a week before the Olympics, it has been rocked by a major one involving 7 Russian female athletes including the favorite in the women's 800m and 1500m, Yelena Soboleva.

http://www.iht.com/articles/2008/07/31/sports/dope.php

Apparently Soboleva and the others submitted false urine samples during one of their blood tests!

Quote:
 
The seven women included Yelena Soboleva, the world's top performer this year at 800 and 1,500 meters, and Tatyana Tomashova, who won a silver medal in the 1,500 at the 2004 Athens Olympics. The Russian women were suspended by track and field's world governing body and were accused of fraudulently using substitute urine in an attempt to pass doping tests.

Three of the athletes - Soboleva, Gulfiya Khanafeyeva (hammer throw) and Darya Pishchalnikova (discus) - were on the Russian team's roster for the Beijing Olympics, according to the Web site of the European Athletics Federation.


It is sad that such a wonderful sport is plagued with these doping cheats but hopefully improved testing methods will keep up with the ever increasing technology of the cheaters.

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shelsoccer
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I used to be a big track and field fan, pouring over every issue of Track & Field News. I've been to several NCAA indoor and outdoor championships, even the Olympic trials as well as the Olympics themselves (3 of 'em, plus one Winter Games). But, I have to confess I don't subscribe to T&FN anymore and seldom read about or watch any track other than the Olympics.

The whole doping scene has just soured me on the sport. Same with cycling, though I was never really into that except during Armstrong's run in the Tour de France.

Add in a more competitive sports marketplace along with the problems inherent in televising a meet live, and track has really lost it's foothold in the US. When I was a kid -- we're talking the 1960s here -- the American sports scene was dominated by baseball, football, basketball and track, in about that order.

Sure there were other sports -- and I was one of the oddballs playing soccer -- but the guys wearing letter jackets in my high school were pretty much from those sports.
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Martin
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I understand shelsoccer's feelings, mine are somewhat similar, track used to have been my second favorite sport behind soccer but my interest has waned lately too for the same reasons. I still enjoy watching the Olympics and World Championships but I no longer make it a habit of hunting down when the summer European meets are going to be televised. But I will say if you want to go to an enjoyable sporting event go to a track meet, it is like a 3 ringed circus!

To this day though two of my favorite athletes in any sport are Dave Wottle and Alberto Juantorena, gold medalists in 1972 (Wottle) and 1976 (Juantorena) in the 800 (Juantorena also won gold at the 400 too.)
Club Sportivo Desamparados
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Yogi
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Dave Wottle, now there is a blast from the past! The very distant past! The guy who ran with the baseball cap on and always would come from behind on the final turn to sprint to victory. Yup, I'm with you Martin, he was a very fun athlete to watch!

I like track & field, I agree with the others about losing some interest after the doping scandals but which sport recently hasn't had some of those? It still is a great sport to watch and the drama and tension of a major sprint final is like what you see with a major title fight in boxing. Add the strategy of the middle distances and this is a sport I really enjoy watching during the Olympics. I don't get to see it too often in between but it captures my attention every 4 years.
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raconteur
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Lopez Lomong, a Sudanese refugee and now naturalized US citizen and 1500 meter runner, will carry the flag for the US at the opening ceremony.

http://sports.yahoo.com/olympics/beijing/b...4?urn=oly,98868

Good story about Lomong overcoming adveristy, the stuff that the Olympic TV story tellers will go crazy over.
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rosarino
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You can't help but be amazed by Usain Bolt's accomplishments in these Olympics. But unfortunately with this sport you just hope he hasn't been chemically assisted.
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xeneize
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rosarino,Aug 22 2008
10:07 AM
You can't help but be amazed by Usain Bolt's accomplishments in these Olympics. But unfortunately with this sport you just hope he hasn't been chemically assisted.

That is true but you also know he is under intense scrutiny and has passed all of his drug tests. Admire the guy from his incredible accmplishments without assuming he is guilty of doping until proven otherwise.

Jamaica's dominance in all of the sprints have been one of the real stories of the Atheltics competition in the Olympics. Men's and women's victors at 100 and 200 meters, tonight they go for the gold in both 4 X 100 relays which can be more problematic as we have seen with teams dropping the stick. But the showing by Jamaica's sprinters in these Olympics have been dramatic.
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libero
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Another gold medal and another world record for Usain Bolt as Jamaica wins the 4 X 100 relay. What an amazing Olympics for "Lightning Bolt." I can't recall even Carl Lewis winning 3 golds AND setting 3 world records in one Olympics.
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