#70

Phelps is definitely an outlier, but not because he peaked early. He’s an outlier because he was consistently winning multiple gold medals at Worlds and Olympics for 15 years, which is virtually unprecedented in any sport, let alone swimming.

It’s definitely a noticeable trend that elite swimmers now have longer careers and peak a little later than they used to.

It wasn’t unusual for 15 year old girls to set world records at one Olympic games and then never be heard from again. If they were lucky, they may have been able to stretch their career to five years and coincide with two Olympic games. Overtraining, pressure, systematic doping etc, all led to those early peaks. Thankfully the situation is better now.

#71

Is it better regards doping? But yeah the careers of swimmers are more sustainable

#72

Definitely. Both in terms of illegal substances being used and also in the mistreatment of athletes as a result of drug programmes. Compared to the regimes that ran in East Germany, Russia and China in past, the welfare of swimmers is much better.

China used to produce a world-record beating teenager every six-months during the 1990s who’d then disappear without a trace, burnt out, abandoned and left with chronic health issues.

#73

Still one of the least tested sports though and lots of reports around the sport being rife with PEDs. I’m not derailing this thread into a doping discussion so will duck out after this. just that I don’t really watch swimming outside of Olympics/worlds, so interested to see what it’s about

#74

Hyping up KJT has never ended well for anyone and still hard to see her getting close to Thiam but she’s been pretty solid so far

#75

Punched the air at Bradshaw clearing 4.75 there, would be amazing to see her finally getting a big outdoor medal.
also actually starting to believe KJT can do it after that 200m.
been a great competition for the brits already

#76

That’s a great run from Guliyev. Smashed the rest of them.

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#77

Lovely touch to see Stefanidi celebrate when Bradshaw went over, too.

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#78

Second fastest European run ever…although must admit I was concentrating on the race for second! Great race all round.

Amazingly, Pietro Mennea’s European 200m record still stands after 39 years.

#79

I think it all rests on the javelin now, but we’ll see. KJT has to get a good jump in early in the long jump…don’t want any repeats of the World Champs a few years back!

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#80

That was at altitude though wasn’t it?

#81

Yeah, still counts though. Maybe Guliyev will get to race in Mexico City some time :slight_smile:

#82

not gonna happen unless Thiam fucks it in the 800m then. still pretty happy with Thiam winning and KJT having put in a consistent enough performance to make it a good competition

#83

Would bloody love Matt Hudson Smith to smash it tonight. Always worry for him cos he has Aspergers and seems to struggle a bit with the big moments, fouled in the 4x400 at the Olympics and then got hammered for pulling out of the 4x400 world final, so so talented tho

#84

…was that British runner doing the Albanian bird thing?!?

#85

Got nervous and ran a weird race but still so great to see him winning gold :grinning:

#86

BMX today was A LOT of fun. Men’s final was very exciting.

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Defo want a go on that track at some point.

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#87

Dina Asher Smith and Ingebritsen Jr are both amazing

#88

Dina seems so, so lovely in her interviews.

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#89

Yeah she’s ace. most British track and fielders are good ieggs imo