Tuesday, April 19, 2005

Irony in the sporting world

With an American placing fourth in yesterday's Boston Marathon, some pundits are proclaiming that there's a renaissance in distance running here. I'm not sure if that's the case, but we haven't had any truly credible American runners at the marathon distance since the days when I was a distance runner - the mid '80s. So anything must be a step up.

At the same time, cycling has been on an upswing, beginning with Greg LeMond's being the first American ever to win the Tour in the '80s, along with Lance Armstrong's six consecutive Tour wins, Tyler Hamilton's gold medal at the last Olympics, and a slew of Americans riding on the pro circuit. So yesterday, we get Lance retiring and Tyler suspended for the next two years. Go figure.

Though I have a gut feeling that Hamilton is actually clean, but so many people in that sport are dirty that it's not shocking to see that high-profile a bust.

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