Whiny Will wrote:
Possibly some dope. But also a lot of those guys were phenomenal athletes. Great swimmers, superb runners, and strong on the bike. Sure, bikes have gotten faster, but not as much faster as people would think. For example, Mark Allen was a strong swimmer (in college I think) and had a stand-alone marathon around 2:20.
Also wind conditions vary, and can affect times a lot.
Yea Mark was a great runner, but he was nowhere near ever going that fast. The 2:24 threshold for qualifying was attempted in Germany I think? Europe someone around 93-94. He blew up way early don't even think he made the half. I think I did hear about him doing something sub 2:30 at one point, but not 'around' 2:20. The dif b/t a 2:20 and 2:30 is light years.