Do you have a hero?

[Saints Lad]

Well for me Seb Coe was a big hero of mine as regards starting running

Also Lance Armstrong is a Legend personally i don't buy that he's been taking steriods although i could stand corrected but the french have been trying to catch him throughout the 7 tours that he won

Similar to Paula Radcliffe some people think also that she has been using EPO or whatever to get results like the 2.15.25 in the marathon !!!

[Wylie Coyote]

I don't believe Paula Radcliffe would be using EPO. It doesn't make any sense to me.

I agree that Seb Coe was a real inspiration in his time but I was more of an Ovett fan myself, dunno why, he just seemed a bit more down to earth.

On Lance Armstrong: It is difficult to imagine how anyone can be so dominant for so long. And now all those that were any close to him are now admitting to having been using banned substances as well. You can't accuse Armstrong 'cos he just sues you for libel/slander. In all other aspects of sports there is always a battle. The great Haile Gebresalassie was always having a tussle with Paul Tergat and in fact was only dominant at 10 000m.

[Chris]

I don't think we have heros much when we are old.

When I was a kid it was Foster and Bedford.

[Chris]

And Henry Rono.

I don't think we have heros much when we are old.

When I was a kid it was Foster and Bedford.

[Epocian]

Emil Zatopek - triple gold medallist in the same Olympics - 5000m, 10000m and marathon (pretty certain that'll never be repeated)
Herb Elliott - He never lost a mile race, ever!
and the great Arthur Newton - distance runner 'par excellance' see
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur_Newton_(runner)
His books - 'Commonsense Athletics', 'Running', 'Running in 3 Continents'
'Races and Training' gave me a love of running which remains to this day

[IanDarkpeak]

I don't believe Paula Radcliffe would be using EPO. It doesn't make any sense to me.

On Lance Armstrong: It is difficult to imagine how anyone can be so dominant for so long.

This thread seems to be getting off the point but any body who is at the top of there sport for so long is going to be under suspicion BUT it's those people who get tested the most, If there was any evidence they'd bury them.

There is a famous photo of Paula holding up a banner saying "EPO CHEATS OUT" at the 5000m World Champs at Edmonton 2001 because Olga Yegorova was competing. She got into trouble for that, Not the thing you would do if you were cheating.

Drugs has always been a dodgy issue and any one taking them should be banned but ...(Some one will have to help me here) a few years ago a (British Female?) athlete was taking an BOC approved branded cold remedy, whilst at an event over seas she ran out(no pun intended )and bought the same brand from a local chemist and then failed her drug test as the same product had different contents To my mind she is not guilty and should not be banned. Your thoughts or should we start a new thread?

[XRunner]

Alain Baxter lost his Olympic Bronze medal after failing a drugs test:

This was the first ever skiing medal for Great Britain and everyone was so proud. I was so proud. The culmination of 11 years work on the team. The locals had a big party for me. Two days later I took a call from Simon Clegg, Chef de Mission of the BOA, who informed me that I had tested positive. I was stunned. I could not understand how this had happened. I have never taken a performance enhancing drug in my life. I don't even take legal supplements.

The US Vicks inhaler has a different composition for the UK one. It contains levomethamphetamine. This is different from the other type of methamphetamine called dextromehtamphetamine which is more commonly known as speed.

I took a Vicks inhaler. I had 25 nanogramms of "methamphetamine" (the IOC would not allow the test to prove that this is levomehtamphetamine) in my body. This is less than the permissible amounts of other malignant stimulent isomers, such as pseudo ephedrine.

I had a blocked nose. I took the Vicks inhaler I had always used. I am not a cheat.

[london exile]

Originally posted by IainDarkpeak

There is a famous photo of Paula holding up a banner saying "EPO CHEATS OUT" at the 5000m World Champs at Edmonton 2001 because Olga Yegorova was competing. She got into trouble for that, Not the thing you would do if you were cheating.

I'd have a bit more respect for her protest if she'd had done it in the final - not when two of her teammates were trying to qualify. It smacked of self importance to me.

[Alf Tupper]

Emil Zatopek , Brendan Foster and Lasse Viren. Chris Moon , his book One Step beyond is fantastic. Guess we have heroes for all differing reasons, Nelson Mandela, Terry Waite for outstanding forgiveness. Sir Ran, Joss Naylor. One could keep going on for ever, so many amazing ppl out there.

[tomcee]

RON HILL.

...to ensure there is no doubt about not doping, paula has her doping samples frozen so that when new techniques for testing come along they can test her past samples. should work great as long as she doesn't test positive for something innocent (like alan baxter).