Tyson Gay in 2007, at the peak of his powers. (Photo by Jesse Squire)

A story by Sports Illustrated writer David Epstein, titled Cheat Sheet: They Tyson Gay File, was released earlier today at Pro Publica. It’s a must-read.

If you’re a track fan, you have some idea of what happened to Tyson Gay. After years of injury and decline, the sprinter’s early 2013 season was remarkable. Then he tested positive for something at the USATF Championships. He accepted responsibility but denied knowledge that he was doping; “I basically put my trust in someone and I was let down,” he said.

Epstein delves into the world of who that probably was, an “ant-aging” doctor who has worked with NFL players and a small number of sprinters, including Kelly-Ann Baptiste, who also failed a test. Lauryn Williams, the retired sprinter-turned-bobsledder, apparently looked into working with him but decided against it.

Anti-aging doctor works with athletes, supplies them with performance-enhancing drugs. Sound familiar? Biogenesis and Anthony Galea are just two other examples. It appears that “ant-aging” medicine is the modern snake oil, sold by charlatans and con men. Epstein’s story certainly makes it appear that way.

The photo at the top of this story is not the best available image of Tyson Gay, but it’s an appropriate one. It was taken by yours truly at the 2007 USATF Championships, where Gay blew away the competition in the 100 and 200 and served notice that he would be the man to beat at the World Championships. That happened five to six years before Gay supposedly began working with this doctor. Five to six years is an entire career for a world-class sprinter, and Gay should have been on the downside of his abilities. But that’s easy for me to say while sitting back and watching, and not being dependent on my physical abilities for my livelihood. If a flim-flam man is going to take advantage of athletes who want to hear something less than the truth, it’s going to be on the downsides of their careers.

All of this does make me feel better about one person in particular: Usain Bolt. His career peak was at the 2009 World Championships, just as he was turning 23 years old, and since then has been in slight but undeniable decline. That’s completely normal.

Links

Kevin Sully looks at the week’s pro action with his Monday Morning Run.

Apologies for the delay, but the weekly college recap will publish tomorrow morning.

News

Runner’s World’s Morning Report has the weekend’s news.

Ken Goe’s daily Oregon track & field rundown explains why Oregon ran two top-tier distance medley relays at the same meet, plus the morning’s news links.

The Onion informs us of Lolo Jones’ unusual accomplishment: she’s the first American to be objectified in both Winter and Summer Olympics. (As usual, the headline is the funniest part.)
More from The Onion

Report: the “sharp pain” Galen Rupp felt when he dropped out of Saturday’s mile at the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix was a cuboid bone that popped out of place. It’s fine now.
More from Runner’s World

Track & Field News summarizes the records set so far this year.
More from T&FN

The EAA rounds up the weekend’s European action.
More from European Athletics

From Martin Bingisser: an Olympic viewer’s guide to women track and field stars turned bobsledders. It goes a lot deeper than just Lolo Jones.
More from HMMR Media

Video of the day

A newsreel summary of the 1959 Millrose Games.

Stat corner

The all-time US indoor list for 3000 meters and 2 miles, down to 7:50.00. “cv” means converted from 2 mile. “BU” means Boston University, while “RLC” is the Reggie Lewis Center; “ATC” is the Armory Track Center and “MSG” is Madison Square Garden.

I think it’s interesting to see so many of the USA’s great distance runners all on one list. Note how many came from Saturday’s race in Boston: numbers 3, 5, 16, 20, 30 and 48.

1	7:30.16		Galen Rupp	2/21/13	Stockholm
	7:31.31	cv	— Rupp	1/24/14	Boston (BU)
2	7:32.43		Bernard Lagat	2/17/07	Birmingham ENG
	7:33.23	cv	— Lagat	2/16/13	New York (ATC)
	7:33.44	cv	— Rupp	2/11/12	Fayetteville
	7:33.67		— Rupp	2/2/13	Boston (RLC)
	7:33.77	cv	— Lagat	2/12/11	New York (MSG)
	7:34.65		— Lagat	2/21/08	Stockholm
	7:34.71		— Lagat	2/2/13	Karlsruhe
3	7:34.87		Ryan Hill	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
4	7:36.50	cv	Andrew Bumbalough	2/16/13	New York (ATC)
5	7:37.40		Garrett Heath	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
6	7:38.29	cv	Evan Jager	2/16/13	New York (ATC)
7	7:38.35	cv	Doug Padilla	2/16/90	Los Angeles
8	7:39.23		Tim Broe	1/27/02	Boston (RLC)
9	7:39.94		Steve Scott	2/10/89	East Rutherford
10	7:40.25		Matt Tegenkamp	2/9/07	Fayetteville
11	7:40.71	cv	Marc Davis	2/20/93	Los Angeles
12	7:41.30	cv	Brian Abshire	2/20/93	Los Angeles
13	7:41.59		Adam Goucher	2/10/06	Fayetteville
14	7:42.29		Bob Kennedy	2/24/96	Fairfax
15	7:42.49		Steve Holman	2/24/96	Fairfax
16	7:42.95		Will Leer	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
17	7:43.33	cv	Steve Prefontaine	2/17/74	San Diego
18	7:44.16		Lopez Lomong	3/11/12	Istanbul
19	7:44.73		Todd Williams	2/24/96	Fairfax
20	7:44.88		Hassan Mead	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
21	7:45.00	cv	Steve Lacy	2/22/80	San Diego
22	7:45.12		John Scherer	3/10/91	Seville
23	7:45.72		Matt Lane	1/31/04	Boston (RLC)
24	7:45.89	cv	Ed Eyestone	2/2/85	Dallas
25	7:45.90		Sydney Maree	2/27/90	Seville
26	7:45.95		Reuben Reina	2/24/96	Fairfax
27	7:46.09		Terry Brahm	2/10/89	East Rutherford
28	7:46.19		Matthew Centrowitz	2/4/12	Boston (RLC)
29	7:46.42		Joe Falcon	2/10/89	East Rutherford
30	7:46.55		Ben Blankenship	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
31	7:46.58		Bolota Asmeron	2/9/07	Fayetteville
32	7:46.81		Chris Derrick	3/10/12	Nampa
33	7:46.84		Jon Riley	1/27/02	Boston (RLC)
34	7:46.85	cv	Alberto Salazar	2/22/80	San Diego
35	7:46.94		Dan Browne	2/5/99	New York (MSG)
36	7:47.19		Alan Webb	1/28/05	Boston (RLC)
37	7:47.20		Jason Lunn	1/31/04	Boston (RLC)
38	7:47.26		Jim Farmer	2/2/90	New York (MSG)
39	7:47.47		Brian Baker	3/2/96	Atlanta
40	7:47.67		Jim Norris	3/14/92	Birmingham ENG
41	7:47.78	cv	Paul Cummings	2/19/82	San Diego
42	7:48.08		Anthony Famiglietti	1/27/2002	Boston (RLC)
43	7:48.24	cv	Rudy Chapa	2/16/79	San Diego
44	7:48.35		Andy Bayer	1/21/2011	Bloomington
45	7:48.70	cv	Frank Shorter	2/19/71	San Diego
46	7:48.74		Matt Giusto	2/15/1992	Los Angeles
47	7:49.05		Chris Lukezic	2/10/2006	Fayetteville
48	7:49.05		Craig Miller	2/8/14	Boston (RLC)
49	7:49.12		John Gregorek	2/11/1984	East Rutherford
50	7:49.12	cv	Ernie Freer	2/20/93	Los Angeles
51	7:49.17		Kirubel Eressa	3/9/2013	Fayetteville
52	7:49.55		Josh Rohatinsky	2/7/2009	Boston (RLC)
53	7:49.56		Luke Watson	1/31/2004	Boston (RLC)
54	7:49.63	cv	George Young	2/22/69	San Diego
55	7:49.93		Daniel Huling	2/5/2011	Boston (RLC)
56	7:49.98		Paul Vandergrift	3/14/1992	Birmingham ENG
57	7:50.00	cv	Thom Hunt	2/20/81	San Diego