Hasn't Bobby Kersee been thought to drug his athletes in the past? If so, why are we giving Syd a pass?

It’s pretty disgusting you put so much thought into looking like an a$$whole. And the mods are worse for allowing it. Get a life.

She's hot, therefore she gets a pass!

Kersee accused in 1989 by Canadian star Bailey, who trained with him

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/28/Sprinter-links-Bob-Kersee-to-steroids/1302615009600/

More...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/04/04/ashford-2-women-gold-medalists-used-steroids/d51f0eb5-b438-4a6f-bfaa-33c4a9849cc2/

Below is a response (copied & pasted) I gave on this topic in late June. I indicated that i was disappointed that McLaughlin aligned herself with a coach who has a very shady past. Others told me how wrong I was for even suggesting it. I am NOT suggesting she is using PED's, just that when you lay down with dogs you will be thought to have fleas whether you do or don't. I wish young stars avoided the coaches with terrible PED reputations but it is becoming tougher and tougher to find one who is squeaky clean. Maybe most everyone in the professional ranks use?

A few of you are misinterpreting my stance, so I must not be making myself clear enough. I have not said SM is suspected of PED use or that she needs them to achieve what she has. I have heaped nothing but respect for her talent. I have not doubted Bobby Kersee's ability to coach or his impact on SM's hurdling technique. I have noticed a significant improvement.

What I said is that an athlete changing coaches to Kersee, Salazar, now Shumacher(sp?), Aden, Graham, Mitchell, and others who have been linked to PED's throughout their coaching careers, open themselves up to ongoing suspicion. They will struggle to achieve success without being accused by association from that point forward.

Personally, I pull for young, talented, upcoming stars to avoid those situations so that fans can better appreciate their talent and skill without screaming "drugs" at every turn.

Better posts than mine, thanks.

Kersse was widely known back then (in the JJK and FloJo era) as Bob the chemist! It's not a secret to anyone who followed the sport..

He's just another Healing Hans, Michele Ferrari, Ma Junren, Jama Aden, etc... People with a very special and magic touch when it comes to training approach and philosophies!

If I was clean, I wouldn't associate with the likes of Bob Kersee no matter what!

Performance are tainted and suspicious by association!

Makes one wonder if some coaches work with juiced athletes early in their career to get a resume' that gives them access to higher-caliber talent. In this case his work with JJK and FLoJo may have gotten his foot in the door with Alysun before she could hear about the doping rumors (she was still in HS, like Sydney AFAIK)

same ol same ol wrote:

The mods delete a thread of a legitimate indictment of Hillary's lawyer, but they'll let this garbage stand.

We have long said at LetsRun that we believe letting people debate doping rumors leads to a cleaner sport.

Year-by-Year Progression for Sydney McLaughlin / Dalilah Muhammad / Femke Bol

2005 - ------- / 1:01.26 / -------

2006 - ------- / 58.75 / -------

2007 - ------- / 57.09 / -------

2008 - ------- / 57.81 / -------

2009 - ------- / 56.49 / -------

2010 - ------- / 57.14 / -------

2011 - ------- / 56.04 / -------

2012 - ------- / 56.19 / -------

2013 - ------- / 53.83 / -------

2014 - 55.63 / 58.02 / -------

2015 - 55.28 / 55.76 / -------

2016 - 54.15 / 52.88 / -------

2017 - 53.82 / 52.64 / -------

2018 - 52.75 / 53.65 / -------

2019 - 52.23 / 52.16 / 55.32

2020 - ------- / ---- / 53.79

2021 - 51.46 / 51.58 / 52.03

Where is the unusual progression? Looks pretty normal to me. What year did she start training under Kersee?

not a kersee fan wrote:

Kersee accused in 1989 by Canadian star Bailey, who trained with him

https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/06/28/Sprinter-links-Bob-Kersee-to-steroids/1302615009600/

This is an amazing thread and that was an amazing article. i didn't know the stuff about Kersee and the 80s. I can't believe I didn't know about that but I guess I've never been as interested in sprinting as I am distance running.

The last 2 paragraphs of that article are unreal.

UP wrote:

Instead, Bailey's boyfriend and former coach testified he pushed Bailey to phone the endrocinologist. The doctor told her use of growth hormone to treat dwarfism shortened life spans and any healthy athlete taking the drug was playing with time.

'When I went to the Olympics and looked at those athletes, I said: 'Sure you have the enjoyment now, but you may be dead in a few years,'' Bailey said.

FloJo would be dead within 10 years.

Wow. Joe Biden knew more about FloJo's links to drugs than me.

Wash Post wrote:

As part of her testimony before Biden, Connolly, a three-time Olympian, produced the Feb. 9, 1989. issue of a West German magazine, Bunte, which was put on record at the hearing. In the magazine, there are two pictures of Griffith Joyner, one labeled as taken in 1984, the other in 1988. "The article . . . shows a comparison of two athletes," Biden said. Connolly corrected Biden, saying it was the same person. Griffith Joyner, who recently retired from track, repeatedly has denied using steroids. She and her former coach, Bob Kersee, have attributed her stunning performances to a strenuous workout regimen before the Olympics.

=

wejo wrote:

same ol same ol wrote:

The mods delete a thread of a legitimate indictment of Hillary's lawyer, but they'll let this garbage stand.

We have long said at LetsRun that we believe letting people debate doping rumors leads to a cleaner sport.

what doping rumors. Some idiot on letsrun isn't a legitimate source. You had a more unusual preogression so I think you were doping. And it was during the EPO era. Next time you see syd, let her know that you allow people to talk sh!t about her because you think she's doping.

not a kersee fan wrote:

More...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/sports/1989/04/04/ashford-2-women-gold-medalists-used-steroids/d51f0eb5-b438-4a6f-bfaa-33c4a9849cc2/

The best part of the article is that pompous airbag Joe Biden held his own hearings about steroids at UDel not in Washington. Deja Vu.

Any criticism of Kersey is fair, but I think most give Sydney a pass since she's been world class since age 15. When we saw her back then, we expected her to break a wr if she kept improving each year and here we are.

flat curver society wrote:

wejo wrote:

We have long said at LetsRun that we believe letting people debate doping rumors leads to a cleaner sport.

what doping rumors. Some idiot on letsrun isn't a legitimate source. You had a more unusual preogression so I think you were doping. And it was during the EPO era. Next time you see syd, let her know that you allow people to talk sh!t about her because you think she's doping.

What are you talking about.

1) He doesn't think she's doping. When did he say that?

2) Yes, weldon's late in life progression would stick out. Weldon was unable to break 30:00 until age 24. At age 26, he went from 29:49 to 28:27 before running 28:06 at 28. His experience reminds us that not everyone has to be a superstar at 22.

But some people on here asked if he was on drugs, and instead of getting mad like you, he viewed it as a compliment.

3) I personally don't hold Kersee's alleged doping past against him as to what he's doing now. Does it make me more highly scrutinize the people he's working with now? Yes. But I almost think we should have a free confessional where everyone just comes out and admits to what they were doing in the 1980s with no ramifications. If you were high-level coach the 1980s and not at least familiar with testosterone, then you probably weren't very accomplished.

As to why Kersee isn't held to the same degree of scrutiny as other coaches, there are likely many contributing reasons, but one of the main ones has to be that younger people (such as many on this message board) just don't know much about him. They've probably heard his name and might know that he coaches some top sprinters, but that's about it. They don't think of him as FloJo and JJK's coach; he's Felix and McLaughlin's coach.

Most casual track fans don't have a huge amount of knowledge about the sport, its history, etc. So they'll go after Salazar, Schumacher, Aden, and others when that is the topic of the week, and maybe bone up on their knowledge of those coaches' histories.

To me, it is a no-brainer that Kersee warrants at least some suspicion. Realistically, when you coach multiple world record-holders in the modern era, that alone warrants suspicion. Then there is the glaringly obvious problem of JJK and FloJo (though for some reason, people seem less interested in speculating about JJK). Rightly or wrongly, a high percentage of people will say that not only did FloJo use PEDs heavily, but that it was one of the most blatantly obvious cases of doping in T&F history. So for anyone holding that position, it follows that Bobby Kersee should be held under a similar amount of suspicion as Flojo.

So I put down the (perceived) lack of suspicion of Kersee on both the lack of knowledge by many track fans as to the suspicious athletes he has coached, and just the general tendency of people to only get riled up about the story of the week (NOP, etc), and ignore other equally relevant topics in plain sight until someone else stirs it up.

Also, if Kersee is a doping coach, he has been very effective at covering his tracks through the years.