How Can You Tell The Governing Bodies of Track Are STILL Corrupt?

Justin Lagat linked over to an article at the Guardian yesterday that had a line in it that simply astonished me. We'll get to that in just a second. First, here's the whole article. Wada warns Kenya to comply with its anti-doping rules or risk Olympics ban

It's pretty clear that the WADA has decided to target Kenya. Justin is pretty adamant that the Kenyan athletes are clean - and superior. Me, I agree with the latter. I do think they are superior runners, for a host of physiological and economic reasons. I also think that Kenyans are still people, and people come in all flavors. Some wouldn't cheat ever. They're the 'Goody Two-Shoes' of the world. I, quite fortunately, married one of these people.

Some people, though, will cheat despite the risk and even knowing that they absolutely will get caught. Their lives are usually a rolling disaster and everyone near them recognizes it.

Most of us are in the middle. Given incentive enough, we might 'bend' a rule if we think no one is looking. I see no reason why the Kenyan population would be different in this regard to any other on the planet so on the matter of Kenyans doping, I come down on the side of - Some are. Most probably aren't, the same as elsewhere not named Russia.

To the Kenyan athlete's credit, they have been at the forefront of the battle to get the country's programs in compliance with WADA and trying to drive out the corruption they see. In November, they briefly took over the offices of Athletics Kenya to deliver a message. Thus far, it hasn't been heeded, but there are good people in the fight. They'll keep pushing.

And that's where the governing bodies proved that they have not reformed yet. WADA is deadly serious about cleaning up Keyna, enough so that some European and American athletes have high-tailed it to Ethiopia. Yes, I'm casting aspersions. No, I don't trust the management of the runners or of the governing bodies.

The article states unequivocally that Kenya must have a testing program in place no later than early April or face having athletes banned from Olympic competition. Now part of this is posturing on the part of WADA. Per the article, no national body has ever been banned from the Olympics for not having an anti-doping program. IOC (International Olympic Committee) is the organization that has control of the participants.

Buried deep in the article is this admission: "It is up to the IOC to rule on any Olympic suspension. In November the IAAF banned Russia from international competition following the scandal of state-sponsored doping, but they are expected to be made eligible for a return before the Games in Brazil."

I'm tempted to curse, but this is a PG-rated site. The Russian ban amounts to losing the indoor season. Meanwhile, their athletes are continuing to gear up for the quadrennial event that dominates the sports world and won't be subject to in-competition testing. Out of competition testing isn't even happening - per the WADA press release of January 20th, 2016, "During this period of non-compliance, RUSADA is unable to conduct anti-doping activities." Even if they were, though, out-of-comp tests are a joke, as exposed by Tyler Hamilton in his book, The Secret Race.

Russia shouldn't be allowed to enter a team in international competition for at least four years. That is the penalty assigned to an individual knowingly using banned substances. The Russian Federation engaged in systemic cheating, allegedly bribed IAAF officials, and have done the absolute minimum to avoid further sanctions. To permit them to enter the competition makes a mockery of the efforts of every clean athlete on the planet, so naturally that's what the IOC will do, with the silent acceptance of the IAAF.

In the meantime, Kenyans may forced to stay home? Really? We're cutting some slack to known cheats and criminals but penalizing a great number of innocent Kenyans?

And what about all the European and North American athletes that are training in Kenya right now? Are they subject to the same proposed ban? If not, why not, since they are training right along side the Kenyan athletes in Iten. If we're to be suspicious of one, we should be of all. That won't happen, of course. There's too much money involved.

When I read articles like this one, I'm reminded of a piece written over on VeloNews, Seven Things Track and Field Can Learn From Cycling.

Regretably, T&F is proving to be a slow learner. With the scandals associated with doping, state-sponsored doping, bribery, the no-bid contract for the Worlds in Eugene in 2021, the reports of Nike bribing people, it is amazing that the hammer is poised be dropped on Kenya while the Russians might skate.

The easy answer - that WADA wants to clean up the sport - gets negated by the fact that WADA ignored Russian whistleblowers until the 2014 documentary forced its hand. The IAAF and IOC have demonstrated their fecklessness, but all three need to prove that they possess the integrity to continue to lead.

How better to demonstrate that integrity by clobbering a relatively small and poor nation who's athletes dominate the long distance field, while letting in the known drug cheats, the Russians, and the white folks that trained right beside the Kenyans.

Color me skeptical. Probably cynical, too. I hope the Kenyans get their program built, test clean as a whistle, and embarrass the powers-that-be with a terrific performance on the world stage. 

Competitive Running is Trying to Depress Me

Yesterday, news broke that the Beeb - BBC - was releasing a documentary that Coach Alberto Salazar had been doping the Nike Oregon Project team members for years. The alleged doping included Galen Rupp. More than one person came forward and they brought a slim bit of physical evidence with them.

This follows on the heels of the sudden departure of Mary Cain last week from the team. She headed back to Bronxville, NY. One reason was offered and her decision was one of the big topics of conversation, always hushed, at the PRE last week. Now the rumors are starting to swirl.

Along with the setbacks from Rita Jeptoo and the transgressions of the Russian Federation, this is one more sign of the rot that exists at the elite level, which begins to remind one of the peloton at the Tour d' France.

Since I coach at a much younger level, this normal doesn't hit home quite so closely, except that one of the allegations is that Rupp began doping back in high school. That would match the efforts of the Russians, if true. One of the reports suggested that the Russians began doping prior to the athletes reaching elite status to reset their biological passport, the set of individual parameters of blood work used by WADA and USADA to determine if an athlete has been cheating.

That frankly disgusts and depresses me. I send the kids out asking that they do their best. Not win, but compete hard, run with guts, and leave it on the course. If any wanted to cheat, I'd be distressed that I hadn't done my job properly.

As for the elites, maybe they need to go back to junior high.

Might have to give up on a novel . . .

I'm in the midst of writing a couple of different novels. One, The Lonesome Mile, I had planned to set in Colorado. One of the  underlying themes of the story was the struggle that an aging miler faced with his own professional demise - and the allure of PED's to extend that life.

The coach in the story is a piece of work, a do-anything-to-beat-the-Kenyans type of guy. I don't know anyone like that, but that's why I write fiction.

Unfortunately, that whole story line blew up in the last month. First came the stunning announcement that Rita Jeptoo tested positive on her A sample. Then, the implosion of the Russian Federation athletes' doping scandal.

In a reprise of cold war rhetoric, Russian Athletic Federation president Valentin Balakhnichev said, “The federation believe the documentary was a provocation aimed at discrediting Russian sport.” 

So, national events have overtaken the basis for my novel. I can't claim to be surprised. I wrote about different aspects of the doping problem in This System Fails Kids. I also hinted at it in a more recent article, Here's how to get more media coverage for running - if you dare.

What I have to figure out now is whether this is still a story worth writing. My first guess is 'yes' but I'll have to do some modifications of the plot and perhaps shorten it to a long short story instead.

I do expect an avalanche of non-fiction to hit the shelves in short order. They'll give us the why's and how's, but I wonder how deeply they'll look at the emotional motivations of the cheaters and the systemic abuse of trust by the coaches of those athletes. If they don't, I probably will.

In the meantime, I'm working on a story that a pair of young ladies from Mead High School have asked for.

And we'll see. I really wish my story idea had stayed the stuff of imagination and fiction, not tawdry headlines, tarnished reputations, and tainted accomplishments.