Jeter's late blooming inspires suspicions of Jet Fuel

[Don1]

Jeter is still on the fast track

Over the last three years, Carmelita Jeter is one of the fastest runners in history
It's her misfortune to have excelled when excellence is subject to deep suspicion
Jeter isn't worried about what others think, her goal is to make the Olympic team


EUGENE, Ore. -- Awash in late afternoon sunshine on the third day of summer, Carmelita Jeter exploded from a set of starting blocks Thursday and tore across 100 meters of orange running track. The race was a formality -- just the opening round of the USA Track and Field national championships in an event where Jeter is an overwhelming favorite to win on Friday night and continue on to the World Championships in late August in Daegu, South Korea. She will be among the favorites there, as well.

Her performance nonetheless was a thing of beauty, a display of controlled power with a touch of the athletic arrogance that defines every great sprinter. She was quickly in front of overmatched peers, compact and strong, and rolled through the line in 10.88 seconds, second-fastest among 16 semifinal qualifiers while barely trying. It didn't just look easy, it looked casual.

In the last three years, Jeter, 31, has become one of the fastest women in history. In the late summer of 2009, she ran 10.64 at a meet in Shanghai, China. Only Florence Griffith Joyner (the legendary Flo-Jo) has run faster. On June 4 of this year -- nearly two years later -- she ran 10.70 in the Prefontaine Classic here at Hayward Field. No fluke. Only Flo-Jo and the disgraced Marion Jones (this will be important) have run faster. "I feel good,'' she said Thursday. "I feel like I'm in good shape.'' Understatements. She is in sensational shape.

There might have been a time when Jeter would be famous in her own country. Or semi-famous, or periodically famous. She may yet achieve some sort of celebrity in the coming months. Those are factors relating to the reduced popularity of track and field in a sports-and-media landscape that is geometrically more crowded than when Wilma Rudolph was running. Or even when Flo-Jo was running. Put those issues aside.

Within the track world, there is another reason why Jeter is not, as I said to her Thursday after her race, "America's sprint sweetheart.'' She laughed at that. Not because it's funny, but because it's painful and true.

What Jeter has done since breaking through in 2007, when she lowered her personal best from a plodding 11.48 to 11.02, is run too fast. In the three years from 2006 to 2009, she lowered her best time in the 100 meters from that 11.48 to 10.64, a staggering drop of .84 seconds. She did this while aging from 26 to 29 years old and getting noticeably more muscular. And as her time at the Prefontaine meet verified, she has scarcely gotten slower since, while aging from 29 to 31.

Full Hundred

[Karl]

Interesting!
...and more so that some of the clean ones had their 'drug run ins'.

[Islandman]

Just goes with the territory in T&F these days.

Its a pity, because Usain would undoubtably be an even bigger sports star if T&F didn't have this permanent cloud hanging over spectacular performances.

[Willi]

See what Victor Conte, aka Speedbuff posted at the Sprint Zone forum:
It's my opinion that there are several reasons to be highly suspicious of the performances of Carmelita Jeter. First is how she suddenly became so much faster near 30 years old. Second, her coach has had a number of athletes test positive. Third, her coach has had a known steroid dealer, Memo Heredia, implicate him as being involved in a meeting in Houston along with Larry Wade. Fourth, Maurice Greene's association with Heredia, which came out in his testimony during the Graham trial suggested that Greene likely used drugs. Fifth, it's my understanding that there have been times when Jeter has had difficulty providing urine samples that met the specific gravity requirement. Two sources have said that during the period when she ran 10.64 in Asia, there was a meet when she gave four samples over a 5 hour period after a race and none of them were acceptable. This may suggest the use of some type of unknown diuretic. Once again, it's only my opinion, but these are just a few of the reasons that Jeter's performances seem to be highly suspicious.

[Jangle]

Bolt's times dropped significantly in a short period of time also.

[Mosiah]

Imagine Bolt, 6 years from now, lowering his world record to 9.3 seconds! (Assuming it stayed at 9.58.)

[Islandman]

Interesting comments, certainly worth pondering.

I will say though that we cannot have it both ways. Conte had a lot to say about SAF in particular and Jamaican athletes in general. We cannot throw out his views and "facts" on our athletes and at the same time give credibility to his comments on the US athletes.

[myYout]

Yeah, it suspicious fi di fact dat she a run so fast at di end ah har career, dat deh defy all logics of di human body, sumpn jus not right deh suh.

[Gamma]

"the legendary flo-jo"

[Don1]

Bolt's times dropped significantly in a short period of time also.

If that happens when he's 30+ I would be very concerned

[Don1]

From auspicious to suspicious ... a very short journey

[Don1]

exactly right