Sheena’s 2025 Athletics Thread

Yeah, not a massive shock.

And the trumpeting of Kenya’s female dominance in Tokyo seemed to be rather misplaced if you ask ME…
 
Once found guilty any word records whether tested clean at that time or not, should be revoked imo!
 
Halli said:
Once found guilty any word records whether tested clean at that time or not, should be revoked imo!
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Within a time period I agree, but I think it’s a tough ask to wipe a career when there is the possibility of accidental or contamination etc. But anything within the two year period before at the very least should be wiped, absolutely.
 
@Sheena are you planning on coming up for the Commonwealth Games next year? The athletics venue is literally 5 mins walk from my house. But the tickets are pricey. £100+ for medal events.
 
Kala said:
@Sheena are you planning on coming up for the Commonwealth Games next year? The athletics venue is literally 5 mins walk from my house. But the tickets are pricey. £100+ for medal events.
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I’m actually not. Next year is stacked with other athletics stuff and potentially Eurovision and likely a month away for work at the World Cup. I’m not a fan of the Commonwealth Games really. Feel a bit of an outdated concept for me…
 
Sheena said:
I’m actually not. Next year is stacked with other athletics stuff and potentially Eurovision and likely a month away for work at the World Cup. I’m not a fan of the Commonwealth Games really. Feel a bit of an outdated concept for me…
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Eurovision? I thought that bitch died! :D

Yeah I wouldn’t bother either but I was thinking of going as it was so close. But couldn’t get tickets anyway. I don’t mind the concept of it as it gives some athletes from smaller nations a bigger chance to achieve something.
 
Kala said:
Eurovision? I thought that bitch died! :D

Yeah I wouldn’t bother either but I was thinking of going as it was so close. But couldn’t get tickets anyway. I don’t mind the concept of it as it gives some athletes from smaller nations a bigger chance to achieve something.
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…whilst promoting the outdated concept of us owning their countries :D
 
I see the schedule at the LA Olympics has every round, including the final, of the women’s 100 metres to be ran on day one of the track programme. I really don’t like that, let the atmosphere and anticipation build dammit.
 
Yeah, well that was one of the most ridiculous plans they’ve had in recent years. Literally EVERYONE was against it and it didn’t seem to actually benefit anyone.

Again, though, I do wonder if it’s a subterfuge to get rid of old (allegedly) drug aided world records. No one is getting near 8.95/7.52 any time soon, but they can hardly say that out loud when you consider the men’s, at least, is by a legend of the sport and you’ve got Carl Lewis, Jackie Joyner- Kersee and Heike Drechsler as the ones who are nearest on the all time list.
 
Is Powell's record considered drug aided? I always assumed it was just an incredible jump with considerable wind assist. I'm assuming the Chistyakova record is, with her being USSR & doing not much else of note after 1989.
 
Santadonicus 🎅 said:
Is Powell's record considered drug aided? I always assumed it was just an incredible jump with considerable wind assist. I'm assuming the Chistyakova record is, with her being USSR & doing not much else of note after 1989.
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Only to the point that EVERYONE in the 80s was at it. There’s no official rumours about Powell at all. But y’know, 8.50 is considered a brilliant jump nowadays.

That 8.95 wasn’t actually that windy. If you believe the wind reading that day…

For the women, yeah, you’ve got to think that, considering the USSR connection, the fact it was set at home (where they just used to let their athletes do what the fuck they liked) and she never replicated it on the world stage, and, again, 7.00 is now brilliant.
 
The thing with doping in the 80s, though, is that the west is very quick to point at the Eastern bloc but it was hilariously unregulated in the west too. In Seoul, East Germany and the USSR didn’t do quite as well as they expected- supposedly because the USA had suddenly caught up with doping protocols and how to properly do it, particularly with the women. Even holier than thou at the time West Germany has been revealed to likely have had state sponsored (or at least federation very aware) doping at the time.

I’m currently reading an of the time autobiography of Charlie Francis, Ben Johnson’s coach, and he claims it was an open secret in the US, as it was in the Eastern bloc, and that GB was really knee deep in it too, albeit from an athlete perspective rather than nationally. As a federation apparently British Athletics were annoying sticklers for drug testing wherever they could in meets at the time.
 
Yeah I think almost everyone in that era should be side eyed really, unfortunate as that is. I've always hoped Evelyn Ashford & Kathy Cook were clean though - & if so, both missed out on SO MANY medals - numerous golds in Evelyn's case.
 
Santadonicus 🎅 said:
Yeah I think almost everyone in that era should be side eyed really, unfortunate as that is. I've always hoped Evelyn Ashford & Kathy Cook were clean though - & if so, both missed out on SO MANY medals - numerous golds in Evelyn's case.
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Kathy never looked the part, for sure, and I’ve never heard a single rumour.

Interestingly, Charlie Francis said during the Dubin Enquiry (Canadian enquiry set up on drugs in the Johnson aftermath) someone had told him about Ashford’s drug regime. Ashford strenuously denied it at the time and as it was hearsay, she couldn’t sue or anything.

The one thing I will say about Ashford is that her teeth changed a lot- which is often a sign of steroid use. Gummy athletes with teeth gaps can be a big sign, and braces on athletes always trouble me. She had braces later in her career and these are about the best photos I can demonstrate- 76 to 88…

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Also at that Dubin Enquiry, Canadian athlete Angela Bailey went on the stand and claimed she’d gone to the US to train with Bobby Kersee (sorry to mansplain, but for the thread, Flo-Jo, Jackie Joyner Kersee and lately Sydney McLaughlin’s coach) but refused to take steroids and so she left him after a few months as he just didn’t know what to do with a clean athlete.

How he’s always heralded as a hero when Flo-Jo was probably the most obvious western doper of the 80s, I don’t understand…
 
I would say the only gold Ashford lost out on due to drugged up rivals was the 1988 Olympics 100 metres to Flo Jo. It was very telling how much more visibly upset and outspoken she was about her than she ever was about the GDR women. I like to think she was a natural talent but it was easy for her to remain unscathed when all the focus was on the Eastern Bloc for shenanigans.

She was a victim of the 1980 Moscow boycott (no I don’t remember it) , pulled up in the final of the ‘83 worlds, it was neck and neck between her and Gohr that year, she won the ‘84 100 Olympic gold and then was injured again in ‘87 for the worlds.

I’d say it was Saint Merlene who was the biggest victim of the cheats though in the interests of fairness she wasn’t free from
Incident herself. Kathy Cook definitely could have had a better haul than she ended up with.

And yes, the finger pointing at the Eastern Bloc which continues was and is very hypocritical. Brisco-Hooks in ‘84 and Flo Jo in ‘88 seem outstandingly obvious to me.
 
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Bristol-Hooks famously being another of Kersee’s…
 
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