Run-Down Forums

[Frank Sellors]

Gordon Pirie was one of my big athletic heroes back in the fifties but in many ways he is remembered ( certainly by the British press ) as an " almost man". The man who promised much but never won the big one; however, I believe Gordon was probably robbed of the ultimate prize by Soviet science.
Pirie once claimed that Kuts ( who beat him for the gold in 1956 ) was on drugs. I'm convinced Pirie was right.
We know, now, that drug use was institutionalised in the Soviet Union( and later the E. Germans ) and , interestingly, somebody in Russia could probably confirm that Kuts' performances were drug enhanced. This would also be a great story for an investigative journalist.
Some people may be annoyed at me for my attack on the late Kuts but, then, Gordon Pirie, also, died without , I believe, receiving the true acclaim he deserved.

Frank

[Guest]

If we are talking about 1956 Olympic 5,000m race,
Pirie lost it because of Kuts' agressive strategy.
Kuts put in quite a few surges dropping everyone
but Pirie from the race. Pirie was hanging on Kuts' shoulder. Then Kuts moved out to outer lane,
slowing down to a jog, wanting Pirie to take the
lead, but Pirie stayed with Kuts. Kuts was definitely annoyed by Pirie's "let someone else do
the work" tactics. He knew he didn't have enough speed and his only hope was to get the kick out of
Pirie's legs by those crazy surges.
Kuts managed to outkick Pirie in the last quarter for the gold.
Pirie later made a comment that Kuts was on drugs,
but he was just being a sore loser, the way I see it. My respect for Pirie as an athlete was lost the second I read that statement.

His belief that Kuts was on drugs was based on the
fact that he, Kuts, was better runner than Pirie.
Period.

I read a book once that described Kuts' workouts and they were as impressive as some of the Zatopek's training sessions. I strongly believe it was the training, not some miracle drugs as many like to believe, that made him one of the best long-distance runners of the 50ies.

To throw everything in one basket - East Germans,
russians, chinese and claim that all of them used
drugs just because they were faster than some western athletes is just ridiculous.
Just as ridiculous as some claims that all black sprinters "must be on drugs".

I have never heard ANY evidence that Kuts used drugs. And unless you have some facts to back your
theories up, I suggest you restrain from generalizations you tend to make.

If you are brittish, I suggest we discuss Linford
Christy and Diane Modahl for a change.
Does it mean that all british athletes, including Pirie were using drugs?

If you are american, change it to Mary Decker Slaney and Dennis Mitchell.
I am sure this means Mo Greene or Bob Kennedy
are using drugs as well, by your logic...

If you are canadian let's talk about Ben Johnson
who just failed a 3rd drug test that he himself
scheduled...

The truth is - both Kuts and Pirie have passed the same drug tests (whatever was available at the time) administered by IOC. For all we know,
they were "equally" drug-free at the time.

Trying to re-write the history because of nationalistic feelings is not a noble goal.

[Anonymously Posted by: 'Oleg']