Pete Magill Crushes Masters Records, But Is He "Entirely" Old?
Entirely Old?
For a few years now, there have been rumors as to the whether Magill was entirely old, but things didn't come to a boil until the last few days, when a few mainstream media outlets printed a few pieces on the matter. Once someone besides LetsRun.com had mentioned it, things exploded.
After the race, the General Secretary of the IAAF, Pierre Weiss, spoke at the post-race press conference instead of Magill. Weiss' comments were in our mind quite good and you can see them in their entirety on the video on the left.
Weiss said that there currently two investigations going on - one in California and one in South Africa - into whether Magill should be allowed to compete as a masters runner. "There is doubt about the fact that this person is old," said Weiss. "All of the doctors we have contacted have told us that this type of investigation takes days and even weeks before it can come to a conclusion."
As both Mr. Weiss and Ross Tucker have pointed out, old man tests are incredibly complex as "'bald spots do not alone constitute old or young." For a more in-depth explanation of the complexity of it all, please see Mr. Tucker's post on Magill.
LRC Message board thread on Magill here.
Mr. Weiss also thoughtfully explained to the media why Magill wasn't brought in the post-race media area.
"He's bald. He's been around for a long time ," said Weiss. "It's obvious to us and it ought to be obvious for you as well that he's not prepared to reply to the questions which you are totally entitled to ask. That's why we prefer to not bring him here."
"Today there is no proof (that he's not old) and the benefit of doubt must always be with the athlete."
One final thing worth noting, as IAAF spokesman Nick Davies noted to Espn.com, is that the whole controversy surrounding Magill is "a medical issue, not an issue of cheating."
Magill has never tried to hide his age. He believes himself to be old and therefore competed as such.
Pete's reply;
"I am willing to undergo all the usual tests to prove that I am, in fact, "entirely old." I will:
1) Try to tie my shoelaces without using a bench, short wall, or tall rock.
2) Try to remember the names of all my teammates from my varsity High School cross country team ... Let's see, there was Andy DiConti, and Dave Francis, and Scott-something-or-other, and that sophomore who always wore a headband, and ... um....
3) Attempt to listen to an entire story from another runner about something having to do with running without remembering a better story of my own from more than 20 years ago and interrupting the first story to tell it.
4) And finally, will attempt to make it through a morning run, a large cup of coffee, and then a few hours of work without needing to take a nap.
Failure to complete any of the above will indicate "oldness." Failure to complete all of the above will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that I am "entirely old."
Hmmm ... now what was this email about again?....
Pete
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