Amidst the raging doping scandals by athletes and corruption in the sport, American Track and Field legend and International Event Ambassador for Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon Edwin Moses came down hard on the IAAF to share the accountability.
“I think the federation has let the athletes down. Athletes deserve a federation to be accountable. Federation owes a lot to the athletes. I think it’s a travesty what’s happened,” he said.
“From an athlete’s point of view it’s disgusting. We have to make sure anybody and everybody — athletes, coaches, and Federation — is accountable. Everyone has to have the same amount of accountability,” he added.
Moses recalled he always believed in true sports. “I am the chairman of the US anti-doping agency. Going back to the 70s and 80s, I was one of the athletes who believed in true sports. I never took medical supplements but believed in diet and exercising. I could always say I represented the clean athletes,” said the former 400m hurdler who was unbeaten in the low hurdles for 122 consecutive races, including 107 finals.
The 60-year-old legend, seemed unimpressed with too much focus on Jamaican athlete Usain Bolt and felt the Jamaican should run more races with his compatriots.
“I ran against Harald Schmidt virtually every year, sometimes two or three times a year. Now you see only few top athletes running against each other.
“Usain Bolt and his compatriots are running against each other every third or fourth year at World Championships because they have to. I want to see those races every year. That’s what’s going to make track and field exciting,” he said.
“There is too much focus on Bolt. When I ran I was ahead of time, as it is with Bolt. There always will be something like that.,” he added.
Talking about his illustrious career especially regaining the Olympic gold after missing taking part in the Games in 1980, Moses said it was difficult in those days to bridge the gap.
“When I competed in the 1976 Olympic Games, I was 20 years old but I was ready for it. It was a big Olympics in 1984 as in 1980 we did not go. Eight years was a long time in the late 1970s as it was still for amateurs,” he said.
“For me it was not about competition, or what time I was running. I had a weekly check-list that I had to complete, so it was less about competing and more about my lifestyle choices. Persistence is a major factor,” Moses added.
