I agree completely...anyone who pulls out within a couple weeks of the worlds is a suspect in my books. Maybe DWFs will start to realize now. It's so bloody obvious! Hopefully over the next couple years the testing industry will stay far ahead of the dirty athletes. Funny how guys like Mullings could never crack a sub 10 without PEDs, it makes me wonder how many guys in the past who have run 9.8x-9.9x wouldn't have been able to either. Very interesting brink we are on with sprinting, let's hope all our guys stay clean and succeed with superior training, diet and will power!
I was watching old footage the other day and noted Carl Lewis 1984 OG 9.99 time. He was meters ahead and seemed a sort of superhuman.
Came mid 80s and Ben starts to lift the whole game, followed by Lewis and Christie. That's when times started to tumble. Late 80s saw Butch Reynold's stupendous 43.29 and the start of big Euro meets and big $. Seems to me that's about when doping became rife, with the injection of huge monetary incentives.
Sure the eastern block was doing it systematicly before then as if it somehow demonstrated a superior political system/regime but individuals from all over the world only started when the money became too big to ignore.
In hindsight Lewis and Christie were just as guilty as Johnson, along with dozens of other lesser known hopefuls.
Now, certainly with training/shoe/nutritional/coaching advances together with increased interest bringing in more competitors you would expect 9.99 to be demolished 1/4 century later but I wonder if mid 9.80s is where the WR should be?
Even as little as 20 years ago when doping was rife Christophe would be among the superstars.
Go back 30 years and only Calvin Smith (a man I consider one of the finest clean sprinters of all time) would be his only real threat.
Just my musings as I await tonight's action.
Thoughts guys?