The article ends with the news that El G's former training partner - a certain Rashid Ramzi - had broken Sebastian Coe's US All-comers record.
Another reason that 2005 has significance and may have been behind El G's decision is that it was in that year that the IAAF began storing athlete's blood samples for future testing. Remember when Coe and the IAAF wanted to reset all world records that were set before 2005?
Innocent athletes worried that their world and European records will be struck off received an apology on Tuesday from the official who proposed the radical anti-doping plan.
You’re both not only missing the point, you’re reinforcing the point made by Armstronglivs. The point is El G was young enough to continue competing. Most people would agree 29 is a very young age for someone to stop running, especially when they’re the best in the world. El G was the same age as Lagat, and we saw what Lagat did those next several years.
So the question is why did El G retire at such a young age? Is it because he achieved all his goals and was therefore satisfied, or was he afraid of the changes in drug testing?
No -- I'm not missing the point. His point is predictably always the same, and in his mind, everything leads to the same point. El G could retire early, or compete into his late-40s, and Armstronglivs would predictably say -- "See?"
I tend to disagree with phrases like "most people agree", as if your opinion is the one held by most people, and popularity of an opinion can turn it into reality. For example, Coevett said "most people" would say 2005, and then you immediately fact-checked him wrong. Seems like Coevett and his "most people" saying 2005 would be wrong.
Before asking why he retired at a young age, let's first answer "if" 29-31 is considered a young age for an elite professional track runner.
It's very common for professional athletes to retire in their late-20s to early-30s. It is rare for athletes to continue running on the track into their mid-30s. Athletes like Lagat and Mo and Geb are rare exceptions. Most athletes who didn't retire by their early 30s moved to the roads.
El G had a long, prolific, successful professional career, spanning more than 10 years on the track, culminating in the Olympic Golds in 2004, that had tragically eluded him in 1996 and 2000. It makes sense that he stopped running after he achieved this final elusive goal. His peak times in the 1500m were between 1998-2002, when he held 7 out of top-8 fastest times. In 2004, he still ran a fast time -- his 8th best -- but he took second to Lagat. El G didn't have a career that was artificially cut-short, but a long successful prolific career that achieved everything it could.
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Every record and top distance athlete from that era was on the sauce. There is absolutely no question. It would be interesting to re-test some of those old samples, if they exist and issue retroactive bans as need be. It will largely be symbolic, but sends the message that no idol is too big to topple.
C'mon now..."every record and top distance from era was on the sauce?"
What a nihilistic view - you really don't believe that?
And what evidence do you have that would support your position that every top distance athlete & record holder was on the "sauce."
And what evidence do you have that EPO (I assume that's what you mean by "sauce?") is effective with elite athletes? (there's no studies at all conducted with elite athletes - only non-elites where there is some measurable benefit).
I don't think it's fair to cast aspersions on all top athletes & record holders of that era unless you have actually proof beyond mere suspicion that they were all doping.
Every record and top distance athlete from that era was on the sauce. There is absolutely no question. It would be interesting to re-test some of those old samples, if they exist and issue retroactive bans as need be. It will largely be symbolic, but sends the message that no idol is too big to topple.
C'mon now..."every record and top distance from era was on the sauce?"
What a nihilistic view - you really don't believe that?
And what evidence do you have that would support your position that every top distance athlete & record holder was on the "sauce."
And what evidence do you have that EPO (I assume that's what you mean by "sauce?") is effective with elite athletes? (there's no studies at all conducted with elite athletes - only non-elites where there is some measurable benefit).
I don't think it's fair to cast aspersions on all top athletes & record holders of that era unless you have actually proof beyond mere suspicion that they were all doping.
It's hardly nihilistic to suspect that in an era when there was a cheap endurance drug on the market for the first time, and no testing or ineffective testing for it, that the records and champions were bogus. Especially when the top guys were running a second per lap faster than all time greats like Coe, Cram, Ovett and Aouita just a decade before them, with little or no advance in training, shoes, or tracks.
So, are you saying all the champions & record holders of that era were doped? What about the guys that finished 2nd, 3rd, etc - were they also all doped? How far down the food chain do you go with doping of that era?
You keep saying that there was "no testing" or "ineffective testing" - that's not correct. There were numerous guys popped for EPO during the latter part of El G's career. Guys like Barbi, who was popped at the pre-test for 2001 WC marathon. Boulami was popped after he set the WR in the steeplechase in 2002. Garcia of Spain was popped in 2003, etc (I could go on & on - check Wikipedia's list of doping cases in athletics). After the B samples were confirmed, the bans for the aforementioned guys were all held up!
I give El G the benefit of the doubt - he was a superb talent like never seen before back in that time period.
I also give the benefit of the doubt to Morocco's 2nd fastest 1500 man & 10th OA fastest all-time: Iguider. Here's another superb talent that competed in the passport era - never testing positive nor dragged into any drug scandal.
I believe Morocco's two fastest & most talented 1500 meter men ever were clean.
there is little chance that he is not doped, atheist is the only sport where Morocco invests its money and currently no Moroccan under 3m32. There was no less than a certain doping in Morocco as well as in the diaspora in France Spain Belgium between 2003 and 2023 and strangely there are more results except in the 3000m steeplechase. the day after Athens Hicham had plans in his head, he told the press that he wanted to break the 5000m record and do cross country. some time later he said that he no longer had the motivation then an injury then strangely allergies (saying that we have allergies is simpler than that we are injured because an injury has a return date) At the same time during of a race from the stands he admitted to training. Finally, he announced his retirement in a hotel during a strange press conference where he admitted having had a lot of nightmares, a lot of crying. All these factual elements strongly indicate that he tested positive in Athens. personally I think he either took epo or had a transfusion with a third party donor. A lot of people don't know how corrupt Lamine Diack was, a lot of people in Morocco, even Aouita told Hicham to stop. Hicham was suspended on the sly it is credible, or he comes back with the risk of tarnishing his career for average times. Hicham wanted to come back just like he died and Returned is all his life, all his glory. The idea that he had little of the new EPO control is bogus, an athlete of his level finds solutions to remain competitive, like Lagat who continued without EPO with top level performances over 5km. Hicham got caught, that’s my opinion.
He was clean, he just run faster because of training, nutrition and belief (probably some Moroccan dude was telling him "3:30 is not that fast, really not that fast" and he just complied).
