Track records set before 2005 could be erased
Governing body mulls proposal as way to combat stigma of doping scandals
European track and field’s governing body wants to erase the stigma a slew of recent doping revelations has had on the sport by erasing any world record set before 2005, when the world track and field’s governing body began to store athlete samples for enhanced testing.
“What we are proposing is revolutionary, not just because most world and European records will have to be replaced but because we want to change the concept of a record and raise the standards for recognition (to) a point where everyone can be confident that everything is fair and above board,” European Athletics Council president Svein Arne Hansen said in a recent meeting.
In total, 74 of the 145 records to date would be erased, including those of 11 American athletes or teams. Most famously, the records set by legendary American sprinter Florence Griffith-Joyner in the women’s 100-metre and 200-metre dashes in 1988 would be reset, as would Jackie Joyner-Kersee’s heptathlon record, also set in 1988.
Meanwhile, on the men’s side, Kevin Young’s record-breaking 400-metre hurdles time set in 1992 would be reset, as would the longjump records set by Mike Powell in 1991 and Carl Lewis in 1984. The United States would also lose its record-holding status in the men’s 4×400-metre relay set in 1993, as well as in the women’s 4×200-metre relay set it 2000.
Other Americans who would be affected: men’s indoor sprinting champion Maurice Greene, who holds the record in the 60-metre dash, and indoor and shot put champion Randy Barnes, who set the records in 1989 and 1991.
Pushback against the plan came almost immediately from some of the affected athletes, including Powell who said Wednesday he would take the international athletics federation, which tracks the records, to court if they adopted the European plan.
“I’ve already contacted my attorney,” the 53-year-old told the BBC.
“There are some records out there that are kind of questionable — I can see that. But mine is the real deal. It’s a story of human heart and guts, one of the greatest moments in the sport’s history,” said Powell, who recorded a long jump of 8.95 metres.
“They would be destroying so many things with this decision without thinking about it,” he added. “It’s wrong. Regardless of what happens, I am going to fight.”
Another athlete who would be affected, world record marathoner Paula Radcliffe of Britain, echoed those remarks, insinuating the blanket resetting of the pre-2005 records was fundamentally unfair to athletes who never doped.
“Because it feels like we’re being thrown in the bin almost, with the records of people who are heavily suspected of cheating, just because we’re in that time frame,” she told Sky News on Tuesday.
Hansen, the European Athletics Council’s president, said the proposal was “a radical solution,” but said it was necessary to cast off “the cloud of doubt and innuendo that has hung over our records for too long.
“We need decisive action to restore credibility and trust,” he added, while outlining the parameters of the plan.
Not only do world records now need to be accompanied by athlete samples that have been stored for 10 years or more, but the feats will also have to be completed at the highest level of competition, including the Olympics, world championships or other preapproved international events “where the highest standards of officiating and technical equipment can be guaranteed.”
Athletes will also have to undergo “an agreed number” of doping control tests in the months just ahead of the event to qualify for world-record status.
While athletes have pushed back, the IAAF — world track and field’s governing body — appears to be open to the idea, on which it will vote to adopt at its next council meeting in August.
“I like this because it underlines that we (the governing bodies) have put into place doping control systems and technology that are more robust and safer than 15 or even 10 years ago,” IAAF president Sebastian Coe said.
“Of course, for this to be adopted for world records by the IAAF it needs global approval from all area associations,” he added. “There will be athletes, current record holders, who will feel that the history we are recalibrating will take something away from them but I think this is a step in the right direction.”