Modern Athlete Magazine Issue 122, September 2019 | Page 16

SPORT MAN Says By Manfred Seidler What’s the Dope? How often have we said, “Wow, what an unbelievable performance!” after an athlete puts in a jaw-dropping performance? The problem is, can we trust that performance? Unfortunately, history points to the need for healthy scepticism, and it is the role of the media to ask these questions. Usain Bolt 16 Looking outside of running, Lance Armstrong won seven Tour De France titles on the trot, repeatedly destroying the other riders going up the infamous Alp du Huez climb. Who can forget the day he looked into the eyes of his then biggest rival, Jan Ulrich, and dropped the German as if he was a child just learning to ride a bike. And in swimming, we saw Michael Phelps win 28 gold medals in four Olympic Games, eight of which came in 2008. Lance Armstrong Freaks or Cheats? At the time, all of these feats, and many others, left us awestruck, and many still do... even the tainted results of Lance. They stand out because they are so far ahead of the rest. But it begs the question: Are these athletes just freaks of nature, and should we simply accept that these (and others) are legitimate performances? No, absolutely not, because the media’s responsibility is to ask the hard questions, however unpopular they may be. Whilst Armstrong was completely dominating the Tour, few questioned his performances. Many thought he had too much to lose by doping, especially considering his foundation, and his credibility surrounding his fight against cancer. Yet, if it wasn’t for the tenacity of journalist David Walsh, Lance may have gotten away with the greatest con in sporting history. David was even ostracised by his fellow journo’s, as they feared that just being associated with him could lead to them being denied access to the greatest cyclist the world had ever seen. But it was David’s bulldogged attitude that saw to the fall of Lance. at the moment the 2019 performances of Namibian Helalia Johannes, the 2018 Commonwealth Games marathon champion, are being questioned in many circles. In 2019, at the age of 39, she has unexpectedly improved her marathon PB by nearly four minutes in Japan, set a new half marathon PB in the Two Oceans Half, and recorded three 10km PBs on the way to winning five out of five Spar Women’s Challenge races. This has also seen her set five new Namibian national records, from 10km to the marathon. Some have questioned her performances, and have suffered a barrage of abuse for raising those questions. My point? Quite simply that every outrageous or far-out performance should be queried. For example, It is the very nature of these outlying performances, though, that is raising the questions. And there is a ISSUE 122 SEPTEMBER 2019 / www.modernathlete.co.za Roger I n 2009, Usain Bolt streaked away from the opposition in both the 100m and 200m to set world records that look unlikely to be broken in many a year, if one looks at the current crop of sprinters. In the marathon, Eliud Kipchoge has set the bar so high with his win in the Berlin Marathon in 2018, that he is being called a freak of nature. Meanwhile, Paula Radcliffe has owned the women’s world record in the marathon since 2003 – only Mary Keitany and Ruth Chepngetich have even come within two minutes of her time, and only as recently as 2017 and 2019 respectively.