The track & field doping saga took another turn today. IAAF President Seb Coe has put forth a radical proposal, backed by European Athletics, that would basically reset all of the sport's world records. They're going to present this to the IAAF Council at the World Championships in August with the hopes that it'll be adopted. My hope is that it isn't. Because this "solution" isn't the answer.
This whole conversation is a direct result of the mess that the sport is currently embroiled in. It's why no Russian has been allowed to compete internationally in more than a year and why no one knows who "won" Olympic medals from London or Beijing anymore. The European powers that be (who are, by far, the most outspoken on the doping issue) also feel that the world records set during this period are tainted, which is why they essentially want to start from scratch.
Under this proposal, a world record would have to fit three criteria in order to be recognized. It must take place in an approved international competition, the athlete must participate in a certain number of doping tests in the months leading up to the event, and their doping sample is stored and available for retesting for 10 years. They also suggested that if the record-setting athlete is ever implicated in doping, their record is taken away, even if the violation has no bearing on the record (for example, a 2017 positive test would still wipe out a record-setting performance from 2014).
It's definitely radical. But it's an overcorrection, and you know it'll face plenty of legal challenges if it goes through. Fortunately, Europe needs the rest of the world to agree in order to get it passed, and I'm not sure that'll happen. Either way, it shouldn't happen. Because this proposal is fraught with potential problems.
For starters, the IAAF only began saving blood samples in 2005. That would automatically reset any world record set prior to 12 years ago, which is completely preposterous. Especially since some of those records are among the most iconic in the sport. And despite the fact that we can't prove that those record-setters weren't clean.
That logic escapes me. Even those who've done nothing wrong would be lumped in with Marion Jones and Ben Johnson. Yes, there are some questionable records out there (the Chinese women's distance records, the women's 800 record), but there are also plenty of world record-holders who don't deserve to have their achievements taken away (for really no good reason). And some of these are among the most iconic performances in the history of sports.
And I'd bet even if you reset the world records, those will still be the iconic marks people chase. High jumping eight feet, just like Javier Sotomayor did in 1991. Going past 60 feet in the triple jump, which only Jonathan Edwards has done. FloJo's untouchable 10.49. Trying to come anywhere near Usain Bolt's greatness (which, presumably, would stay on the books since they were set after 2005).
Then there's the single greatest track & field competition of all time. The men's long jump at the 1991 World Championships, where Mike Powell and Carl Lewis both surpassed Bob Beamon's unthinkable mark from the 1968 Olympics. Beamon's mark stood for 23 years. Powell's is on it's 26th. No one has come close since. In fact, those remain the three longest jumps in history.
To be clear, all of the existing world records wouldn't be wiped out. They would still be listed as "all-time bests," but the best performance after a certain designated point would become the record. When that point is remains unclear. Either way, it's stupid. In fact, I'd think athletes would have even more motivation to wipe out a record they view as tainted instead of just being given one.
Jarrion Lawson had the world-leading mark in the men's long jump in 2016. He jumped 8.58 meters. That's more than 30 centimeters less than Beamon, and nearly 40 less than Powell! Yet you want to act like that's all of a sudden the world record?! That's just insulting. You're acting like two of the single greatest efforts in track & field history never happened. Just because you don't think the drug testing in 1968 or 1991 was good enough?
They need to stop trying to rewrite history. This is like when Commissioner Ford Frick decided in the middle of the 1961 season that Roger Maris could only break Babe Ruth's record if he did it the same number of games. So Maris' 61 had an asterisk next to it for how many years before everyone realized it was ridiculous and Bart Giamatti removed it? And, despite the protestations of many a sportswriter who thinks they should, they haven't made any indication that the single-season and career home run records don't belong to Barry Bonds.
My solution is to leave it alone. Times change. Drug testing has become more sophisticated as technology has improved. Everyone knows that. And that's not a reason to penalize the sports all-time greats. Why? Because they born at the wrong time. How is that their fault?
If you want to adopt this criteria moving forward, be my guest. That actually sounds pretty reasonable. But you can't touch the existing record book. World records are a part of the sport's history. You can't pretend that history never happened just because it's more convenient for you.
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