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Bolt's So Good, You Have to Ask: Is He Clean?

By Kevin Spak, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 21, 2009 7:35 AM CDT

(Newser) – Usain Bolt doesn’t even bother running through the tape at full speed. By the end of his sprints—even his mind-boggling, record-breaking 200-meters in Berlin—he’s mugging for the cameras. “Every race he leaves us wondering, ‘How fast could this guy go?’” writes Michael Wilbon in the Washington Post. Unfortunately, he leaves us wondering something else too: “Is he clean?”

Other than his spectacular dominance, there’s no reason to believe Bolt is doping. He even passed a doping test before the men’s 100-meter final. But this is track and field, “where chemists and the dope police have been trying to outwit each other for decades.” From Ben Johnson to Marion Jones, track is loaded with tainted legends, and none were as dominant as Bolt. It may be cynical, but these days, “there simply is no benefit of the doubt.”

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[Videos (1)]

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Jamaica's Usain Bolt crosses the finish line to win the Men's 200m during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/David J. Phillip)

Jamaica's Usain Bolt, center, runs to setting a new World Record as he wins the Men's 200m final during the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Herbert Knosowski)

Jamaica's Usain Bolt celebrates setting a new World Record as he wins the men's 200 meter final at the World Athletics Championships in Berlin on Thursday, Aug. 20, 2009. (AP Photo/Matt Dunham)

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Usain Bolt smokes the field in the 200 meters. (YouTube)

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Getting $100,000 every time you break the world record has given Bolt incentive not to shatter the record once and for all. He has every reason to break it today, break it Friday, break it in September and again in October. - Michael Wilbon

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COMMENTS

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Showing 3 of 4 comments

MarkFL

Aug 22, 2009 12:35 PM CDT

Maybe Bolt is a woman...

bewilderbeast

Aug 21, 2009 12:57 PM CDT

I asked the question last week in my local online rag: Sorry Usain, but I have to say (blame your predecessors): We love what you're doing, but we WILL turn on you if we find out you're running on jet fuel. Well done if you're not, but the way you joke and hold back makes us wonder . . . One of the world's pre-eminent sports scientists, Tim Noakes has stated that there are no "clean" world records. I'm afraid I think he's right.

BlahBlahBlah

Aug 21, 2009 3:50 AM CDT

Is it possible to think that the guy is just a naturally gifted runner? Not even doping could push most athletes to the point he has reached. I find the guys speed fascinating. I think this just falls in the category of; he isn’t running got the good ole USA so he must be cheating. The guy is just good, get over it.

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