Track & Field still exists

I had a conversation last night with someone who revealed he didn't know any track athlete besides Jamaica's Usain Bolt. What??? The horror! I threw the name Tyson Gay–the only man who can legitimately stop Bolt from owning the 100–at him and he admitted that he knew him as well, although not too convincingly. Back in the day, track & field greats like Jesse Owens, Jackie Joyner-Kersee, Bruce Jenner, Dan O'Brien and Gail Devers were household names in sports. But as performance enhancing drugs became more immersed in the sport (you can read about Ben Johnson and the Balco scandal, which also implicated athletes in other major sports,) interest in it waned.

The preliminary rounds of the track & field championships being held in Daegu, South Korea, just got underway and there's very little publicity surrounding it in the U.S. Track & field is still a popular draw in Europe, where the world's best are still treated like rock stars, but there's no doubt about the negative impact drugs has played in its declining popularity. Even prior to the start of competition, two notable athletes have already tested positive for banned substances.

Steve Mullings

First it was Jamaica's Steve Mullings, who became an early medal contender in the 100m after a then world-leading 9.80 win at the Prefontaine Classic in Oregon in June, and an upset win over his training partner Gay at the Adidas Grand Prix in New York the following week. Barely two weeks later, Mullings tested positive for furosemide, or Lasix, a diuretic used to hide the existence of banned drugs. It's a second positive test for Mullings, who would likely get a lifetime from the sport.

American Michael Rodgers has chosen to withdraw from the championships after also testing positive for a stimulant. The sprinter's agent said he tested positive for methylhexaneamine, a stimulant present in energy drinks. Rodgers reportedly ordered vodka with an energy drink at a club last month and competed at a meet in Italy two days after. He had the choice to participate while investigations into the severity of his positive test is ingoing, but risked distracting the U.S. delegation or costing the entire relay team a medal.

Michael Rodgers

With an already depleted team, which is missing Gay and 400m Olympic champion Jeremy Wariner, Rodger's withdrawal further worsens the U.S. men's chances of taking gold at the 400m relay. He was third in the 100 at the U.S. Nationals and figured to be one of the main legs of the team's 400 relay. But the U.S. still has plenty of sprinters with realistic chances of grabbing a medal. And while the men may be struggling, the women are stacked with title hopes in the sprints. Allyson Felix, Carmelita Jeter and Sanya Richards-Ross hope to keep the Jamaicans, America's main rivals in the sprints, from owning the shorter distances. Africans, particularly the Kenyans, usually dominate the longer distances, but two women from Botswana and South Africa are proving that the continent can also produce champions in shorter distances.

In a separate post, I'll highlight my main athletes or stories to watch for. But in the mean time, do you have a favorite track & field athlete or story to share?