Much as I think Lisa Dobrisky is an under-achiever and her comments after the Olympic final could have been better timed, she was spot on about Cakir. I'm a bit surprised she wasn't picked up earlier to be honest, given her history.
I don't know if anybody could be bothered to read my pre-olympic betting prediction posts but here's what I said about the women's 1500
Womens
On principle, I’m not betting on this because I think the likely winner, Asil Cakir, is a drug cheat. Hopefully she’ll get beaten by Abeba Arigawe or one of the others.
If I could see it from my armchair... (I did bet on her btw )
Yanit is another one who has been suspected for a long time. Pity, because she has a really inspirational, fight-against-the- odds backstory. Ah well, better late than Nev(in)er
Much as I think Lisa Dobrisky is an under-achiever and her comments after the Olympic final could have been better timed, she was spot on about Cakir. I'm a bit surprised she wasn't picked up earlier to be honest, given her history.
I don't know if anybody could be bothered to read my pre-olympic betting prediction posts but here's what I said about the women's 1500
Womens
On principle, I’m not betting on this because I think the likely winner, Asil Cakir, is a drug cheat. Hopefully she’ll get beaten by Abeba Arigawe or one of the others.
If I could see it from my armchair... (I did bet on her btw )
Good call though. The Turkish authorities will have to do more to pre test their athletes.
Wonder if the Algerian men's 1500m champ, Makhloufi, is in trouble too.
That's anoher one who is widely suspected. I was in the stadium for that final and the reception for his victory was quite muted - you can't fool a knowledgable British crowd.
Am actually quite annoyed that probably the only time I get to see a men's 1500m final in the flesh has been sullied.
Now that the tax issues have been sorted out, Usain Bolt has signed up to compete on both days of the London Diamond League. For a cool £500,000 tax free.
Now that the tax issues have been sorted out, Usain Bolt has signed up to compete on both days of the London Diamond League. For a cool £500,000 tax free.
Not sure it will be tax free as the article suggests. The issue has never been about a tax on his earnings in the UK but more that the taxman takes a slice off his worldwide earnings from sponsorships.
And good to hear that British Athletics has sponsors lined up - I did wonder why things had been quiet on that front since Aviva stepped down at the end of last year.
However industri say Im a big fan of tomasheva who was 4th in that race. Wnder if They will give her the bronze butguess the cheating btch Will keep her gold.
Personally I think it's a mistake, but I can see his reasons for wanting to give it a go. There a lot of money on offer, even for middling career as a defensive player
If and when he comes back to athletics, hope his body hasn't been too battered by NFL.
Personally I think it's a mistake, but I can see his reasons for wanting to give it a go. There a lot of money on offer, even for middling career as a defensive player
If and when he comes back to athletics, hope his body hasn't been too battered by NFL.
thoughts?
It's definitely a big risk. Of course he could set himself up for life financially if it works out but it won't be easy. He will be fighting for contracts against people who have been playing the sport since they were kids.
Even if he does come back to athletics at some point every year away will be a year not spent working on his technique so he could potentially be risking future success in the discus also. As it is he only started throwing seriously relatively late on after he didn't get a pro rugby contract.
I found this comment piece from his local newspaper in Coydon interesting as it brings up the widespread PED culture within the NFL which is obviously a route we wouldn't want him to go down either.
even in the initial Daily Mail story he acknowledged that he doesn't seem to stick at things
He was a good rugby player, but then late registration or something stopped him from taking up an offer from London Irish (and Wasps I think)
He deferred his place at Oxford to compete in discus and then London Olympics
Then while away to do training for this year's athletics season, he decides to try out for NFL (granted he had mentioned in past there was interest)
You're right about competing against college pro's who've been playing the game all their life will be tough, but clearly he's been given some sort of encouragement from somewhere (hopefully not a greedy agent)
I saw that piece from Inside Croydon, I agree with everything the writer has said. Even if he does avoid the PED issue, I still think the injury curse is something to worry about. The fact that playing careers are so short isn't because the players are discarded because they're poor, more that injuries force them to quit.
I can imagine his knees are in for a tough time, which will be an issue when he tries to resume his discus career
even in the initial Daily Mail story he acknowledged that he doesn't seem to stick at things
He was a good rugby player, but then late registration or something stopped him from taking up an offer from London Irish (and Wasps I think)
He deferred his place at Oxford to compete in discus and then London Olympics
Then while away to do training for this year's athletics season, he decides to try out for NFL (granted he had mentioned in past there was interest)
You're right about competing against college pro's who've been playing the game all their life will be tough, but clearly he's been given some sort of encouragement from somewhere (hopefully not a greedy agent)
I saw that piece from Inside Croydon, I agree with everything the writer has said. Even if he does avoid the PED issue, I still think the injury curse is something to worry about. The fact that playing careers are so short isn't because the players are discarded because they're poor, more that injuries force them to quit.
I can imagine his knees are in for a tough time, which will be an issue when he tries to resume his discus career
I know a lot of people his age will be similar but I'm sure those who are ultimately successful in elite sports will have a very different mindset to your average 20/21 year old.
On the positive side maybe he will be like Darren Campbell who dropped out of athletics for a couple of years in his early 20s to play semi pro football but was then successful when he came back. Granted though semi pro football is nowhere near as demanding on the body as NFL.
I know a lot of people his age will be similar but I'm sure those who are ultimately successful in elite sports will have a very different mindset to your average 20/21 year old.
On the positive side maybe he will be like Darren Campbell who dropped out of athletics for a couple of years in his early 20s to play semi pro football but was then successful when he came back. Granted though semi pro football is nowhere near as demanding on the body as NFL.
I don't think he'll make it. Hardly any Brits ever make the NFL. It's as bad as baseball. The sport we're likely to do best in is Basketball because you can be well coached in it in this country from a young age.
It's definitely a big risk. Of course he could set himself up for life financially if it works out but it won't be easy. He will be fighting for contracts against people who have been playing the sport since they were kids.
Even if he does come back to athletics at some point every year away will be a year not spent working on his technique so he could potentially be risking future success in the discus also. As it is he only started throwing seriously relatively late on after he didn't get a pro rugby contract.
I found this comment piece from his local newspaper in Coydon interesting as it brings up the widespread PED culture within the NFL which is obviously a route we wouldn't want him to go down either.
I wish him well but fear he may be making a mistake. Still if his heart is not in athletics there's not a lot you can do.
I suspect he'll find out quite quickly that he won't make it.
He won't be an exceptional physical specimen at defensive end (the position which I suspect he is being projected). It will take him a long time to learn the techniques, tactics and other things that players who were brought up in the game still have to work at.
A recent Junior World discus champion, Margus Hunt, will be in the NFL Draft later this month. Even with 3 years College experience he is considered a long shot to play in the League.
Part of the interest may have come because of his family name. His uncle Christian was a devestating running back some years ago - but had a short career due to knee problems.
Spring Marathon season starts up on Sunday morning - Paris Marathon on Eurosport starting at 07:30.
Thanks for heads up. Caught end of tHe race. Good win by Ndiema in the men's race. Commentators correctly disputed the use of pacemakers in the women's. Good win for the woman though.
Comments
Has there ever been a decent Turkish athlete that wasn't a doper or a renamed Ethiopian?
Can't think of one.
Seems that the IAAF have confirmed this story now & they have also named another Turkish athlete Nevin Yanit the European 100m Hurdles Champion.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2013/mar/22/olympic-champion-cakir-alptekin-drugs
In athletics terms Turkey is the new Russia.
RIP Pietro. I always loved seeing his late surges to pip Wells and others to the line. Ran for ages as well.
Much as I think Lisa Dobrisky is an under-achiever and her comments after the Olympic final could have been better timed, she was spot on about Cakir. I'm a bit surprised she wasn't picked up earlier to be honest, given her history.
I don't know if anybody could be bothered to read my pre-olympic betting prediction posts but here's what I said about the women's 1500
Womens
On principle, I’m not betting on this because I think the likely winner, Asil Cakir, is a drug cheat. Hopefully she’ll get beaten by Abeba Arigawe or one of the others.
If I could see it from my armchair... (I did bet on her btw )
Yanit is another one who has been suspected for a long time. Pity, because she has a really inspirational, fight-against-the- odds backstory. Ah well, better late than Nev(in)er
Sorry to hear about this. 60 is no age at all.
That's anoher one who is widely suspected. I was in the stadium for that final and the reception for his victory was quite muted - you can't fool a knowledgable British crowd.
Am actually quite annoyed that probably the only time I get to see a men's 1500m final in the flesh has been sullied.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/othersports/athletics/9960718/Usain-Bolt-to-head-an-all-star-cast-for-Anniversary-Games-that-also-includes-Mo-Farah-and-Jessica-Ennis.html
Not sure it will be tax free as the article suggests. The issue has never been about a tax on his earnings in the UK but more that the taxman takes a slice off his worldwide earnings from sponsorships.
And good to hear that British Athletics has sponsors lined up - I did wonder why things had been quiet on that front since Aviva stepped down at the end of last year.
What a shock. Nobody Saw that one coming....
Lawrence Okoye to try out for NFL
Personally I think it's a mistake, but I can see his reasons for wanting to give it a go. There a lot of money on offer, even for middling career as a defensive player
If and when he comes back to athletics, hope his body hasn't been too battered by NFL.
thoughts?
It's definitely a big risk. Of course he could set himself up for life financially if it works out but it won't be easy. He will be fighting for contracts against people who have been playing the sport since they were kids.
Even if he does come back to athletics at some point every year away will be a year not spent working on his technique so he could potentially be risking future success in the discus also. As it is he only started throwing seriously relatively late on after he didn't get a pro rugby contract.
I found this comment piece from his local newspaper in Coydon interesting as it brings up the widespread PED culture within the NFL which is obviously a route we wouldn't want him to go down either.
http://insidecroydon.com/2013/04/01/an-open-letter-to-lawrence-okoye-nfl-could-be-a-dead-end/
I wish him well but fear he may be making a mistake. Still if his heart is not in athletics there's not a lot you can do.
He was a good rugby player, but then late registration or something stopped him from taking up an offer from London Irish (and Wasps I think)
He deferred his place at Oxford to compete in discus and then London Olympics
Then while away to do training for this year's athletics season, he decides to try out for NFL (granted he had mentioned in past there was interest)
You're right about competing against college pro's who've been playing the game all their life will be tough, but clearly he's been given some sort of encouragement from somewhere (hopefully not a greedy agent)
I saw that piece from Inside Croydon, I agree with everything the writer has said. Even if he does avoid the PED issue, I still think the injury curse is something to worry about. The fact that playing careers are so short isn't because the players are discarded because they're poor, more that injuries force them to quit.
I can imagine his knees are in for a tough time, which will be an issue when he tries to resume his discus career
I know a lot of people his age will be similar but I'm sure those who are ultimately successful in elite sports will have a very different mindset to your average 20/21 year old.
On the positive side maybe he will be like Darren Campbell who dropped out of athletics for a couple of years in his early 20s to play semi pro football but was then successful when he came back. Granted though semi pro football is nowhere near as demanding on the body as NFL.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/21989409
I suspect he'll find out quite quickly that he won't make it.
He won't be an exceptional physical specimen at defensive end (the position which I suspect he is being projected). It will take him a long time to learn the techniques, tactics and other things that players who were brought up in the game still have to work at.
A recent Junior World discus champion, Margus Hunt, will be in the NFL Draft later this month. Even with 3 years College experience he is considered a long shot to play in the League.
Part of the interest may have come because of his family name. His uncle Christian was a devestating running back some years ago - but had a short career due to knee problems.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/athletics/22051898
http://blogs.nfl.com/2013/04/07/lawrence-okoye-impresses-at-super-regional-combines-first-day/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter
Talk that he may be drafted rather than joining a team as a free agent.
Hopefully the amazing gold will help him become a world force (fitness key ofcourse)