Mats,
Thanks for expressing all my thoughts about this issue - you managed to do
this even though I have never spoken to you and do not remember ever meeting
you (I did attend the 1995 Goteborg WC and the preceding scientific
Congress, so maybe we have met there, but do not realize it).
I am currently too busy teaching in two institutions (Tel Aviv University
Medical Faculty and the Wingate College of Sports and Physical Education)
this semester, consulting etc, to embark on long messages - which I
certainly felt like doing, after I have begun reading that Arne - Arne of
all people! - is this and that. You know, I felt more insulted than probably
Arne himself had he read that.
I suspect that a partner of two in this list have been a little hasty to
"outguess" a situation and a person they knew nothing about. But Arne does
not deserve any of these.
Regards,
Uri
-----Original Message-----
From: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
[mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of Mats Åkerlind
Sent: Wednesday, March 14, 2001 12:56 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: t-and-f: Doping, but also more stuff
Looking through the posts at this list is a strange experience. It seems
that some members prefer to speak out in haste, rather than getting
informed. They prefer to throw out accusations and vague criticism,
rather than meeting argument with argument.
I’m right now disappointed at the discussion concerning the USA and
doping. Members Walt Murphy and Ben Hall have accused IAAF VP Arne
Ljungqvist of being anti-US (Murphy) and a witch hunter, McCarthy-style
(Hall).
As a personal friend of Arne Ljungqvist, this makes me sad and even
angry. Could you list members please refrain from attacking the
messenger and avoiding the issue.
I must say the same thing as Uri Goldbourt. Arne Ljungqvist is a man of
great integrity. He was a world class high jumper in the 1950’s (not a
thing which automatically makes him a great person ? just look at the
drug case of Javier Sotomayor). Arne Ljungqvist then became a professor
of medicine and has advanced to the vice presidency of the IAAF. He has
often been very outspoken on drugs and in opposition to Primo Nebiolo
and others. What Arne Ljungqvist wants is a clean sport, nothing else.
So ? please ? understand that Ljungqvist is addressing what we in Europe
see as a big problem. It is reported that there have been a number of
doping cases that the US federation has not reported to the IAAF. All
other federations must report ? so why not the USA? And with this
background ? can we trust that the US teams are clean? Or are they
simple cheats, aided by their federation?
Of course ? nobody wants to believe this. I know the problems with US
law and how to adjust it to international rules. This is the main
problem. But for all other countries, it’s a hard thought to aceept
that they must compete against an athlete who can cheat and then hide
behind a national legal system. Or ? even worse - behind a national
federation protecting the cheats. This was done in the GDR and other
Eastern bloc countries. I’d hate to think that the same thing is done in
the USA. But ? when I saw the results from Lisbon, I couldn’t help
thinking about the US athletes the same way I used to think about the
Soviet and GDR athletes in the old days. And for a guy who has lived in
the USA ? that’s a depressing thought.
So ? my question is: How should the USA tackle this doping problem? Do
you expect the rest of the world to accept that while they are expected
to report their cases and get them convicted, the USA should not? Or is
there another solution?
Or ? should doping be allowed? In that case - on what grounds and what
doping should / should not be allowed?
Let’s keep the discussion to that level, instead of stooping down to
cheap, low-class McCarthy crap. (I will choose to see it as a satirical
attempt or a joke. I believe that Ben Hall’s real standpoint has a lot
more to bring to the discussion.) Walt Murphy has already explained his
point in a way that I to some extent can see and accept.
Mats Åkerlind
”[EMAIL PROTECTED]”
P.S. The most stupid thing about all this. I came home to sit down and
write a point about the World Indoors… About real T&F. About a good US
performance. About surprises. About cross country high jumping! (The
jumpers had to pass the round track, a camera rail, some cables, two
runways for PV and LJ/TJ (with competitions going on…), an 18 in. drop
and the 60 track (with competition going on) before making their
attempts! No wonder that 2.32 (=7’ 7 3/8”) was enough for a win (by a
Swede who has been tested 8 times since Sydney). About Borzhakovskiy’s
impressing 800. About a 1500 in 3:51 that still was extremely exciting
(after 70 and 2:21 it had to be an interesting last 400!). About the
fact that Germany went home with one single medal!
But I won’t. I doubt that anybody is interested and I’ve lost the will
to use the time.I have fallen into the trap myself… But as somebody
wrote. It seems that the list nowadays just brings out the cheap shots.
No real T&F. And now I’m a part of it. I’ll give the list another
chance, but I start to think that I can do better without it.
P.P.S. Just read GH's post about the Lisbon 1500. A superb account!
