Keira D'Amato confirms she's going for the AR in Berlin, what do you think of her chances?

Atlanta 2020 trials course was crazy hard. Everyone's time was super slow so that 2:34 is meaningless

In fact that may be a dead giveaway to her "secret" in that she is REALLY good at flat steady-state but gets way slower when there is a momentum breaker like hills at Atlanta or Champs

So I think she is likely clean.

I think she's figured out exactly how to load the super-shoes.

Look carefully at her form. Very relaxed even at 4:49 pace with an obvious lean backwards instead of forwards, specifically to load the plate.

Then realize 2:19 is "only" 5:19 pace (ha only) so 20 seconds even more relaxed and has to hang on for 2 hours

Draft is another 1%? 2%? Didn't have that either at Champs

I take the view that until.someone has been proven to have used PEDs and other substances I'll assume she's clean and in the case of D'Amato I will joyfully support her attempt to break the AR.

I wish there were a way for me to interview all the posters on LR who imply drug use for a particular athlete. How do they select their "targets?" Is it based solely on disbelief that the particular athlete could have reached the performance he did without the help of PEDs? Is it motivated by personal animosity towards the athlete? If so, did the animosity start with where they went to school, or was it something about the athlete's physical appearance or personality? What motivates you not to cast aspersion on an athlete who has performed well? Do you make exceptions for those you think are attractive or cool or run for a school you attended or a running group you admire? Is part of why you cast doubt about an athlete because you think others expect you to be doubtful and cynical? Do you think that casting doubt is a form of virtue signaling?

Shelby wants her burritos back.

But Lopes was an Olympic silver medallist in the 10,000 in 1976.

Yeah, this is grasping at straws. Doesn’t move the sport forward.

Yeah, keep grasping at those straws and believing everyone is clean, buckaroo.

If Keira didn't run the World Championships, she would definitely have a chance to run 2:18. Worlds messed up her fitness, and I fear that running Berlin is too soon. She should train a month or two longer and target a fast course like Valencia in the end of the fall

I'll take a stab at this.

My views about doping changed significantly after Shelby was busted. I am also really really frustrated with running media choosing by and large to give Shelby a pass.

There's no doubt there are cheaters in running, and I almost feel like when you are on the inside of the sport you might view doping the same way a lot of viewed drinking in high school--all the cool kids are doing it. But when you get busted, you're in BIG trouble.

For me, I look for outliers.

Who is doing something that *no one else* appears to be able to do?

And I'm not talking about setting a world record. I'm talking about behavior.

Shelby won the US cross-country championships in 2019. Then she was the *only athlete* to turn around and compete at the 2019 indoor championships where she won the two mile and placed second in the mile to a much better rested CQ. It was impressive, and Shelby waxed poetic about "just loving to race!" but now I look back at that differently. How in a whole host of pro athletes, was Shelby the only person capable of running both championships and competing both at an extremely high level?

Sifan Hassan? Enough said. Trust me if more world class women could do what she did at the 2021 Olympics, they would.

50 women have broken the 2:20 barrier, just 50 in the whole world and in all of time. Of that fifty, just five of them were over the age of 35. of the five, four of them had significant pro careers in their 20s--Keira did not. Only Irina Mikitenko, a former USSR native and German runner took a significant break from to have a child.

There's no doubt that within those 50 women, there are drug cheats. And some of those drug cheats probably broke 2:20 in the prime of their careers. So when you consider that, it's hard not to be skeptical that a mom of 2, represented by Nike--which has a reputation, in her mid- late thirties, suddenly had a renaissance and achieved something in the sport only 50 women who trained really really hard all their careers did. Keep in mind that at the age of 32, Keira ran 3:14.

I don't have animosity towards Keira, and if she's clean then great, I'd love to be wrong! But just as you seem to believe that skepticism comes from bias, I believe that blind faith comes from bias too. Who are you more likely to believe? Why? Do they represent a school, country, brand, you like? Are they the right ethnicity? nationality? Running media acting like all Keira D'Amato is, is a feel good story is frustrating. I'm not saying that they should outright accuse her of doping, but a little restraint sometimes help instead of fawning all over her. We went through this with Lance, who was a major outlier. Let's learn something this time.

Legitimate question, but if there is pretty rigorous drug testing, shouldn’t the general consensus to assume innocence until proven guilty? I understand the hinting at certain brands/coaches/etc. possibly aiding athletes in doping, but is this just general speculation or a known thing?

I’ve listened to a lot of Keira’s different interviews on different podcasts and I really would be surprised if she is doping. She really emphasizes prioritizing her children, still works full time in real estate, she just opened up her own running store in her town, etc. Wouldn’t you think if she was taking such a risk to dope she wouldn’t be focusing so much on other aspects of her life, ie her children, real estate career, giving back to her local running community?

Again maybe I’m totally naive but I’d like to think her “finding happiness with running again” has helped lead her to this success and not because of doping. The jump in her times is pretty insane, but her times in the Trials, Chicago, and even at Worlds (despite the short build) show she isn’t perfect.

So, I think you’re being totally naive. The whole “why would she dope” sounds like the “Shelby is too smart to dope” line. drug testing is still way far behind actual doping and plenty of athletes are getting away with it.

re read what you wrote again. You just made a case that a runner wouldn’t dope because she has kids she loves, has a job, and is opening a running store. Plenty of dopers are parents when they are caught. Lance was a parent. Id also direct you to the Lisa stublic case for some similarities—she had a good job and an Ivy League education. She started a running career anyway and was busted. As for the running store, well I actually see that as a way Keira has profited off her success. Success she didn’t otherwise have.

”I look at the why would she dope” question—a question reserved for American runners btw, actually as a bit biased. And the truth is no American distance runner should be doping because they are for the most part educated and privileged and can choose another path. But Shelby proves that they absolutely do. So in a way I just have less sympathy for people who dope in the us as a result

You're all naïve. There are no drugs that can boost metabolism beyond human limits because, by definition that is impossible.

None of you even know what metabolism actually is.

You should read The Secret Race by Tyler Hamilton. He was a teammate of Lance Armstrong and in the book he pretty much lays out how professional athletes beat the drug testing system…and the book came out 10 years ago.

It’s been years since I read the book, but if I remember correctly he essentially says that for the most part the drugs are used only in training (not in competition) and that it is very easy for an athlete to make themselves unavailable for out-of-competition testing. The use of the drugs during training increases the athlete’s ability to recover and the level of workload that their body can take. After the training cycle, the athlete stops using whatever drugs they are on and waits long enough for the drug to leave their system before competing, thereby eliminating that chances of an in-competition or post-competition test returning positive.

I’m sure there are plenty of people here who can explain this a whole lot better than I can.

And if you read his explanation of his power outputs before and after 6 weeks of EPO you will see they are in the normal range for a rider of his ability.

Cyclists are even stupider than runners in their belief of magic potions.