Possible Olympic Medals

budapest2012

Now that we are in Olympic year where do people think medals for the Irish Athletic team if any will come from.

Dan man

We could sneak a medal this time. Rob Heffernan in the 50km walk is in with a great chance. Ciaran O'Lionaird could put in a real good performance and may surprise us, you never know. Outside of that it is hard to predict any medals but O'Rourke, Gillick and Loughnane have the potential to come very close. Really interested to see how Fionnuala Britton gets on in the long distance events.

budapest2012

Obviously as the year goes on we will get some indication of form etc.O'Lionaird looks like a work in progress and this year may be just too soon.The same would apply to Brian Gregan who I think will have a very good year.
I would just hope that all who have qualified arrive in London injury free and ready to do themselves justice.

runjb

There's an extensive thread created on Ireland's Olympic medal prospects. It could do with more of an "athletic" input I'd say!!:D

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056181796

Pisco Sour

Medals for countries our size from Western Europe are a rarity. If you look at the likes of Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria etc, they have actually won less Olympic medals per capita in athletics than we have. In fact Spain with 40 million people have only won around 10-11 track and field medals in Olympic history if I am not mistaken. They don’t grow on trees and are extremely difficult to come by, and one medal would be a huge result for Iirish athletics.

The best chance is Rob Heffernan in the 50k, but don’t rule him out in the 20k either.

If Olive can get back to the form of 2009 then she has a real shot. Conditions in Daegu didn’t help her and she will no doubt do a lot better than 16th in London.

Derval obviously has a shot of a medal. I don’t think she will, but she should make the final if in good form, and after that who knows. She’sd have finished around 4th or 5th in Daegu had it not been for a cruel injury. She was in great shape, and the event was strangely weak last year (except at the top end!) so she would have placed well. 12.47 for a medal last year would have been a fair bit beyond her IMO though.

Excited to see how Gilly gets on this year. Kevin Borlee medalled in Daegu and Gilly at his best is at a similar level to the Borlees. Can he get back to his 44.77 form however is another question.

Mad Len obviously has a shot at a medal. He could well do it, but he also could go out in the semi finals. It is hard to predict this far out.

But medals only tell part of the story. I’m personally very excited to see how young Ciara Mageean, Thomas Barr, Jessie Barr and the 4x400 team get on next year.

InsaneBolt

budapest2012 wrote: »

Now that we are in Olympic year where do people think medals for the Irish Athletic team if any will come from.

ZERO

Pisco Sour

InsaneBolt wrote: »

ZERO

Disagree. London is the first Olympics since Sydney that I believe Ireland have a genuine chance of picking up a track and field medal (assuming our best athletes make it there injury free of course),

boynesider

Ciaran O'Lionaird could surprise a lot of people but he cant afford to plateau and will have to continue improving (which I believe he is very much capable of).

1500m finals have been decided on relatively slow times in the past so who knows what could happen. It's unlikely but you certainly can't rule it out so what's the point in saying "NONE"?

nodgie86

I don't think Olympic finals have been necessarily won in slow times in the past. Sydney and Beijing would of needed an Irish record with 2004 not being too far off the Irish record

2008 - 3:32.94
2004 - 3:34.18
2000 -3:32.07

seanmc1980

not a chance, big up all these people but they are no sonia's. O'Rourke hasn't a hope in hell of finishing in the top 6 no matter about getting a medal. Gillick the same, if he makes the final i'd be surprised.
heffenan was at his best in 2008 came 4th, he won't feature in london. seriously we dont have any world contenders in track and filed

BeepBeep67

nodgie86 wrote: »

I don't think Olympic finals have been necessarily won in slow times in the past. Sydney and Beijing would of needed an Irish record with 2004 not being too far off the Irish record

2008 - 3:32.94
2004 - 3:34.18
2000 -3:32.07

His PB would have gotten him a Bronze in 2004 and pretty close in 2008, I think the point is that he needs to keep improving.

Sprocket77

I think Mad Len is the only one with a realistic chance of getting on the podium.

He's still young and making progress, last year was the first year where things started to fall into place for him. Hopefully he can make enough progress this year under Salazar to be up there competing. He's well capable of beating Ray Flynn's Irish record and if he does I think he'll be in with a shout.

Dan man

seanmc1980 wrote: »

not a chance, big up all these people but they are no sonia's. O'Rourke hasn't a hope in hell of finishing in the top 6 no matter about getting a medal. Gillick the same, if he makes the final i'd be surprised.
heffenan was at his best in 2008 came 4th, he won't feature in london. seriously we dont have any world contenders in track and filed

Disagree entirely with this post, there are possibilities, not odds on favourites like Sonia but we have athletes that are in with a shout. And you're wrong about Rob Heffernan.

Pisco Sour

seanmc1980 wrote: »

not a chance, big up all these people but they are no sonia's. O'Rourke hasn't a hope in hell of finishing in the top 6 no matter about getting a medal. Gillick the same, if he makes the final i'd be surprised.
heffenan was at his best in 2008 came 4th, he won't feature in london. seriously we dont have any world contenders in track and filed

You really have no clue do you?

1) Derval O'Rourke came 4th at the 2009 World's, and had it not been for a cruel injury would have finished 4th or 5th at the 2011 World's. 12.84 made the final, and Derval, on championship form, could do that with her eyes closed. Similarily 5th place was that Russian, in 12.8x, who Derval murdered the year before in Barca. If you think Derval wouldn't have taken her then you are seriously ignorant. Will she medal? Probably not. But to say she has "no hope in hell" of making the top 6 is utterly stupid.

2) Heffernan came 8th in 2008, not 4th. Get your facts right. He came 4th twice in 2010 at the Europeans, and is a newcomer (and improving quickly) over 50k, which is where his best chance of a medal will come from. Racewalkers reach their peak in their mid 30s, which is the age Rob is coming towards now.

Go call up Joe Duffy. I'm sure he'll be intersed in your insightful knowledge of Irish athletics.

Dodge

Its not even the knowledge, its the tone of the post. Like he's angry that someone dare suggest that some Irish athletes might make top 6.

Looking forward to an influx of posters come the Olympics complaining about Irish athletes only proving to be in the top 20 in the world at their discipline. OR whatever bull**** handwringing they'll perform

Considering we've won 3 medals in Athletics since 1932, it isn't a brave move predicting none this year

Pisco Sour

In terms of Irish athletes, nobody has mentioned Deirdre Ryan, our top performer in Daegu. I don't think she has a chance of medalling, but how do people think she will get on in 2012? Can she replicate her Daegu performance and get into the top 6 or 8 again? Will the standard be higher in 2012, and will a PB be needed to even make the top 8? Or will she just be a one championship wonder?

She's gone full time now so hopefully this will help her push on from a great 2011.

Dan man

04072511 wrote: »

In terms of Irish athletes, nobody has mentioned Deirdre Ryan, our top performer in Daegu. I don't think she has a chance of medalling, but how do people think she will get on in 2012? Can she replicate her Daegu performance and get into the top 6 or 8 again? Will the standard be higher in 2012, and will a PB be needed to even make the top 8? Or will she just be a one championship wonder?

She's gone full time now so hopefully this will help her push on from a great 2011.

It's hard to know, if she sets a P.B. in qualification then she will surely make the final.

BobMac104

Dodge wrote: »

...
Considering we've won 3 medals in Athletics since 1932, it isn't a brave move predicting none this year

I had to think about that one it feels like we have won way more (maybe 5 more...:o) but that just shows how tough they are to get.

ecoli

BobMac104 wrote: »

I had to think about that one it feels like we have won way more (maybe 5 more...:o) but that just shows how tough they are to get.

You are probably thinking of the 3 we won up to that point

AAI have an up to date record of this stuff which may give people some insight:

http://www.athleticsireland.ie/content/wp-content/uploads/2006/05/irish-athletics-olympiansnov2011.pdf

Dodge

ecoli wrote: »

You are probably thinking of the 3 we won up to that point

We've won 5 world championship medals since 1983 too so maybe that adds to the succesful perception.

In fairness to Athletics ireland, they always prodice excellent media guides for major championships.

myflipflops

I'd be surprised if we did but there are chances out here.

The walkers always have a chance. Rob Heffernan is a good championship athlete and the disqualification scenario means there is always a medal there for anyone within the top 10.

O'Lionaird looks like he has imporved already under Salazar. If he can get his PB down into the 3.31 range then he has a shout. Salazar took Farahs finishing kick up about 3 levels in a space of a few months so hopefully O'Lionairds goes the same way.

I don't see Derval getting there. An Olympic final would be a wonderful achievement.

All in all, I would say about a 5/1 shot to get a medal of some colour which is about par for the course for a nation which has won 6 medals in 21 editions of the games and 3 in the last 19.

From a general Irish perspective, it would be nice to see a sport other than athletics and boxing kick in with a medal. Ignoring the infamous Mrs De Bruin, we have only a sailing silver from '72 outside boxing/athletics. It's time the rowers or equestrian teams stood up.

tunguska

My vote is for Mark Keneally to do a Charlie Spedding and nab a bronze in the marathon. Get in there Mark!!

ecoli

tunguska wrote: »

My vote is for Mark Keneally to do a Charlie Spedding and nab a bronze in the marathon. Get in there Mark!!

Would love to see this but this years Olympics will probably be the strongest field of all time in terms of depth between the Africans and some good runs from the Americans at their Trials not to mention the Japanese. Cragg ran a 63 Half there the other week and was only 65th in the field. Though they are not competing for the medals the likes of Yuki Kawauchi if he lightens his race calendar would be a better chance as a dark horse of a medal however personally think he will be fried by that stage as his calendar has been crazy over the last 6 months

I think O Lionaird will be our best hope due to the fact that Centro picked up Bronze this year in Daegu with the exact same PB as him. He looks alot healthier and fitter this year so far in races and under Salazar hopefully he can get the extra gear needed to close in a tactical race as opposed to just fast front running. Look at Kiprop last year spent most of the year working on his 800 speed and paid off big time.

Heff will also be in with a shout I think in the 50k. I think Diniz will be the man to beat and the conditions will favour him more than they did in Daegu

Will be interested to see how Gillick performs this year coming back from the US hopefully he can return to the kinda form he has been capable of. Can't see him medalling but would love to see him as a dark horse to make the final though again this all depends on how his training has been going

I think we have a good chance at having one of our best Olympics in terms of Final/Semi Final appearances but would agree with myflipflops odds of a medal being alot slimmer than people reckon

thirtyfoot

I think Stephen Colvert will medal if he can get his 2013 and 2014 grant allowances upfront and before Easter this year and also if nobody false starts against him in the run up to London.

Pisco Sour

ecoli wrote: »

Would love to see this but this years Olympics will probably be the strongest field of all time in terms of depth between the Africans and some good runs from the Americans at their Trials not to mention the Japanese. Cragg ran a 63 Half there the other week and was only 65th in the field. Though they are not competing for the medals the likes of Yuki Kawauchi if he lightens his race calendar would be a better chance as a dark horse of a medal however personally think he will be fried by that stage as his calendar has been crazy over the last 6 months

I think O Lionaird will be our best hope due to the fact that Centro picked up Bronze this year in Daegu with the exact same PB as him. He looks alot healthier and fitter this year so far in races and under Salazar hopefully he can get the extra gear needed to close in a tactical race as opposed to just fast front running. Look at Kiprop last year spent most of the year working on his 800 speed and paid off big time.

Heff will also be in with a shout I think in the 50k. I think Diniz will be the man to beat and the conditions will favour him more than they did in Daegu

Will be interested to see how Gillick performs this year coming back from the US hopefully he can return to the kinda form he has been capable of. Can't see him medalling but would love to see him as a dark horse to make the final though again this all depends on how his training has been going

I think we have a good chance at having one of our best Olympics in terms of Final/Semi Final appearances but would agree with myflipflops odds of a medal being alot slimmer than people reckon

We certainly have more medal shots than we have had in a long time. Granted many of them aren’t strong medal shots but they are medal shots nonethesless:

Rob Heffernan 50k – Good medal shot
Rob Heffernan 20k – Outside medal shot
Mad Len – Outside/ Decent medal shot
Olive Loughnane – Outside medal shot
Derval O’Rourke – Outside medal shot
David Gillick – Very slim medal shot

There’s no doubt that most (probably all bar Rob in the 50k) are unlikely, but with 6 outside chances, it only takes one of them to pull it off.

In Beijing we had no medal shots (outside, slim or otherwise). In Athens there wasn’t a prayer. In Sydney and Atlanta it was all on Sonia. So I’m very pleased to see the depth that we have now. Maybe we wont medal, but there’s a hell of a lot more opportunities (albeit slim in many cases) than there has been in a long time.

dna_leri

04072511 wrote: »

In Beijing we had no medal shots (outside, slim or otherwise). In Athens there wasn’t a prayer. In Sydney and Atlanta it was all on Sonia. So I’m very pleased to see the depth that we have now. Maybe we wont medal, but there’s a hell of a lot more opportunities (albeit slim in many cases) than there has been in a long time.

We had as much hope in Beijing, it's just in hindsight that we realise that was little or no hope. This time 4 years ago, we were talking about DO'R, Gillick, Heffernan, O'Keefe as "realistic medal hopes" with Hession as a finalist. Not that much has changed in terms of depth (or even names) since then. If all of the "realistic medal hopes" make their finals, with maybe one new breakthrough, then it will be a good games.

TFBubendorfer

ecoli wrote: »

Though they are not competing for the medals the likes of Yuki Kawauchi if he lightens his race calendar would be a better chance as a dark horse of a medal however personally think he will be fried by that stage as his calendar has been crazy over the last 6 months

He has already proven that the way he lives, trains and runs works for him, even though it is completely different to anything anyone else does. If you'd force him to change his racing habits, his performance level is at least as likely to go down as it is to go up IMHO.

Back to the Irish hopes, I can't see anyone but Heffernan to have a realistic shout. If O'Lionaird keeps improving he might be in the running in 2016, but 2012 is a bit early for him I think.

BTH

myflipflops wrote: »

It's time the rowers or equestrian teams stood up.

Didnt they do that already? :rolleyes:

Pisco Sour

dna_leri wrote: »

We had as much hope in Beijing, it's just in hindsight that we realise that was little or no hope. This time 4 years ago, we were talking about DO'R, Gillick, Heffernan, O'Keefe as "realistic medal hopes" with Hession as a finalist. Not that much has changed in terms of depth (or even names) since then. If all of the "realistic medal hopes" make their finals, with maybe one new breakthrough, then it will be a good games.

Fair point, and we had a very strong Osaka performance the year before, with 2 6th place finishes (Heff and O'Keefe), and about 6 or 7 more top 16 performances (Cuddihy, Gillick, Derval, McGettigan, Britton, Hesh, maybe more cant remember).

In terms of Derval though, she had a bad 2007 and I dont think many people fancied her for Beijing. Since then she has come on in leaps and bounds, and really it was just an unfortunate injury that was the difference between a bad 2011 and what would have been a very good 2011. So I think she is in a much better place going into the Olympics this time around.

Going into 2008, Gillick hadn't proken 45.2. Since then he has gone 44.77 and numerous times under 45, so assuming he can get back to that form then we'd certainly have higher hopes for him this time around.

I think Heffernan has come on a lot since Beijing also, and the 50k is an event he has a lot of potential over. 3:45 in his first championship event over the distance. With proper 50k specific training and more race know-how over theh event he will surely take a few minutes off that time. 3:41 is medal range.

So I think we are in a better place going into London than we were 4 years ago.

myflipflops

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Didnt they do that already? :rolleyes:

No.

I'm not sure if the rolleyes is at me or the equestrian team. We have zero medals in equestrian in Olympic history.

Dodge

myflipflops wrote: »

No.

I'm not sure if the rolleyes is at me or the equestrian team. We have zero medals in equestrian in Olympic history.

I think the rollyeyes was at them winning a gold in Athens, only to have it stripped...

myflipflops

TFBubendorfer wrote: »

If O'Lionaird keeps improving he might be in the running in 2016, but 2012 is a bit early for him I think.

I can see him turning into a real contender this year. His race this Saturday will tell a lot. Racing Kiplagat and Lalou over a mile with a quick.

Pisco Sour

Dodge wrote: »

I think the rollyeyes was at them winning a gold in Athens, only to have it stripped...

Funny thing is that the Brazilian guy who got Cian O'Connor's gold medal ended up getting done fo doping a couple of years later also.

BTH

myflipflops wrote: »

No.

I'm not sure if the rolleyes is at me or the equestrian team. We have zero medals in equestrian in Olympic history.

The rolleyes was at the fact that the equestrian team did stand up. Just a pity it didn't count in the end.

In my opinion they are more deserving of their medal than Mrs De Bruin is but thats a different discussion. And I'm not trying to defend what happened there, but it seems fairly obvious to me which case was blatant cheating and which was a simple and honest mistake. Anyway, thats miles off topic.

RE medal hopefuls, I would only be a casual observer so I don't feel qualified to comment, but enjoying this thread, and finding out which athletes and races I need to make sure I don't miss in the summer.

eliwallach

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

Mrs De Bruin

We don't need reminding that Ms Smith was never done for taking drugs (whatever the possible circumstantial evidence).

Her misdemeanour was tampering with a sample - for which she received her 2 year ban which effectively finished her career.

fiddy3

eliwallach wrote: »

We don't need reminding that Ms Smith was never done for taking drugs (whatever the possible circumstantial evidence).

Her misdemeanour was tampering with a sample - for which she received her 2 year ban which effectively finished her career.

Yep. Jimmy McGee had it right, she was pure as the driven snow in Atlanta, on nothing but a few rubex I'm willing to bet. Three gold medals, heroic!

Pisco Sour

eliwallach wrote: »

We don't need reminding that Ms Smith was never done for taking drugs (whatever the possible circumstantial evidence).

Her misdemeanour was tampering with a sample - for which she received her 2 year ban which effectively finished her career.

Christ!!

Her sample which contained whisky also contained banned drugs. The ban for failing a test is 2 years. The ban for tampering is 4 years. They gave her the longer ban, hence she wasn’t convicted for failing a test. But fail a test she did.

Amazes me how some people can think she was clean.

Who next, Marita Koch? Actually that reminds me, I once heard Jimmy Magee referring to her as “the great Marita Koch”. The man lives in fantasy land.

Dodge

I don't think her sample contained drugs, just the masking agent

Doesn't matter to me, point is the same

Now... back to athletics anyone?

Pisco Sour

Dodge wrote: »

I don't think her sample contained drugs, just the masking agent

Doesn't matter to me, point is the same

Now... back to athletics anyone?

Big leaps form previous swimming results are always doubtful. Up jumped Michelle de Bruin from Ireland. At the 1996 Olympic Games she won gold medals in the 400 IM, 400 Free, and the 200 IM, plus a bronze in the 200 Fly. de Bruin was accused of doping by another swimmer, Janet Evans. Evans finished 9th and was shut out of the medal round in the 400 IM, so many thought it was just "sour grapes" - but maybe it wasn't. de Bruin tested clean in 1996, but in 1998 she was banned for tampering with a urine sample. The sample had high levels of alcohol. Even though it was tampered with, testers still found traces of androstenedione. Michelle de Bruin was banned for four years in 1998, appealed, lost the case, and retired

http://swimming.about.com/od/swimmingolympics/tp/Olympic-Swimming-Controversy.htm

There are numerous links about it. Just type in "michelle smith androstenedione" into google.

Michelle Smith never failing a test is a myth!

myflipflops

BetterThanHoyte wrote: »

In my opinion they are more deserving of their medal than Mrs De Bruin is but thats a different discussion. .

Well yes in a certain way.

I did not include swimming because I don't think you cannot expect medals from a sport that did not have an Olympic sized swimming pool until about 20 years ago.

rom

myflipflops wrote: »

Well yes in a certain way.

I did not include swimming because I don't think you cannot expect medals from a sport that did not have an Olympic sized swimming pool until about 20 years ago.

We are way more behind than that. Make that only 10 years this year. The only way that the pool was built was the wheels were put in motion from the shame that she won the medals and we didn't have a single pool big enough as she used to say in the interviews. http://www.ulfoundation.com/projects/university-arena/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic-size_swimming_pools_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

myflipflops

rom wrote: »

We are way more behind than that. Make that only 10 years this year. The only way that the pool was built was the wheels were put in motion from the shame that she won the medals and we didn't have a single pool big enough as she used to say in the interviews. http://www.ulfoundation.com/projects/university-arena/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic-size_swimming_pools_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

Yeah, I wasn't sure what the date was so I went 20 years to be safe.

Pisco Sour

rom wrote: »

We are way more behind than that. Make that only 10 years this year. The only way that the pool was built was the wheels were put in motion from the shame that she won the medals and we didn't have a single pool big enough as she used to say in the interviews. http://www.ulfoundation.com/projects/university-arena/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Olympic-size_swimming_pools_in_the_Republic_of_Ireland

That's one of the only good things to come out of Michelle Smith winning her medals - it pushed people towards getting a 50m pool built, so now the likes of Grainne Murphy has a proper facility to train in.

Speaking of medals, in 2010 I would have put Grainne as a potential medallist come 2012, but she seemed to go backwards in 2011, but some good signs from her recently that she is improving again. I no longer consider her a realistic medal shot now though, unless she improves significantly this year.

Dodge

04072511 wrote: »

Michelle Smith never failing a test is a myth!

I think you took me up wrong there. I wasn't trying to defend Smith at all.

boynesider

I always wondered what would have happened if Cian o'Connor himself got done for doping? Would he have had the medal stripped? All he really did was sit on the horse like

ecoli

Mod: Lads please get back on topic. If you wish to continue this discussion let me know and I can split the thread and move that bit over to the Sports forum but this is not ART related

tunguska

ecoli wrote: »

Would love to see this but this years Olympics will probably be the strongest field of all time in terms of depth between the Africans and some good runs from the Americans at their Trials not to mention the Japanese. Cragg ran a 63 Half there the other week and was only 65th in the field. Though they are not competing for the medals the likes of Yuki Kawauchi if he lightens his race calendar would be a better chance as a dark horse of a medal however personally think he will be fried by that stage as his calendar has been crazy over the last 6 months

Yeah I know its a very very long shot as the field for this years olympic marathon looks like its gonna be the finest ever assembled. 1984 was pre-african dominance aswell so more of an even playing field at that time which meant more chance of an upset. If that mad japenese lad can hold his water and not go off like a lunatic he could do some damage. This pretty much sums him up........

"I don't remember anything from the last part of the race," Kawauchi says, having passed out after finishing.

He was collapsing as they were trying to put some sort of winners tag on him. I'd say after he came to he was carted off back to the office to finish a shift.

fiddy3

tunguska wrote: »

Yeah I know its a very very long shot as the field for this years olympic marathon looks like its gonna be the finest ever assembled. 1984 was pre-african dominance aswell so more of an even playing field at that time which meant more chance of an upset. If that mad japenese lad can hold his water and not go off like a lunatic he could do some damage. This pretty much sums him up........

"I don't remember anything from the last part of the race," Kawauchi says, having passed out after finishing.

He was collapsing as they were trying to put some sort of winners tag on him. I'd say after he came to he was carted off back to the office to finish a shift.

He can do as much damage as he wants, but he'll be half a mile behind Mutai, Kirui, Kebede and co.

Pisco Sour

tunguska wrote: »

Yeah I know its a very very long shot as the field for this years olympic marathon looks like its gonna be the finest ever assembled. 1984 was pre-african dominance aswell so more of an even playing field at that time which meant more chance of an upset. If that mad japenese lad can hold his water and not go off like a lunatic he could do some damage. This pretty much sums him up........

"I don't remember anything from the last part of the race," Kawauchi says, having passed out after finishing.

He was collapsing as they were trying to put some sort of winners tag on him. I'd say after he came to he was carted off back to the office to finish a shift.

The Japanese are a crazy bunch of lads. After all, there are vending machines that sell used schoolgirl's knickers in Tokyo. That pretty much sums up the level of weird sh1t you will find in that country.

mydiscworld

myflipflops wrote: »

I can see him turning into a real contender this year. His race this Saturday will tell a lot. Racing Kiplagat and Lalou over a mile with a quick.

He came 6th but another new Mile PB 3:54.76 (he won the week before with 3:56.01)

Haven't seen the race but times below (and his twitter says he got boxed in too.)

Very promising year ahead imo if this progression continues. Reckon he'll have the Irish 1,500 NR before the Olympics.

http://www.flashresults.com/2012_Meets/indoor/02-11-USATFClassic/Results75-1.htm


Rob Heffernan in the 50K is my other hot medal tip.

I think the 20K is far too tough. He'd Top 10 it but I'd rather him go for glory in 50K only.

Me.

04072511 wrote: »

Big leaps form previous swimming results are always doubtful. Up jumped Michelle de Bruin from Ireland. At the 1996 Olympic Games she won gold medals in the 400 IM, 400 Free, and the 200 IM, plus a bronze in the 200 Fly. de Bruin was accused of doping by another swimmer, Janet Evans. Evans finished 9th and was shut out of the medal round in the 400 IM, so many thought it was just "sour grapes" - but maybe it wasn't. de Bruin tested clean in 1996, but in 1998 she was banned for tampering with a urine sample. The sample had high levels of alcohol. Even though it was tampered with, testers still found traces of androstenedione. Michelle de Bruin was banned for four years in 1998, appealed, lost the case, and retired

http://swimming.about.com/od/swimmingolympics/tp/Olympic-Swimming-Controversy.htm

There are numerous links about it. Just type in "michelle smith androstenedione" into google.

Michelle Smith never failing a test is a myth!

Just one problem with that. Androstenedione wasn't a banned drug at the time. It was only added to the banned list the following year. So no need for her to tamper with her urine sample.