Martin with all due respect, I dont think its the calories that is too advance a word for some like MLF by the look of things. The issue is If he understood what the different component is that make a world class athlete then we would not be having this discussion. How can you not be able to fit into a kit that was only measured 6 weeks earlier? pleaseeeeee
I think he knows what it takes, but is he prepared to discipline himself to achieve that goal? MLF is not stupid lets not be mistaken, but he is too comfortable in his stuation. He knows fully, what it takes he has been around world class athletes, self control may be the problem.
I will bang on about Mark lewis Francis all i want, i know he has made mistakes, but lifes about learning form them.
What was he doing, standing in the mist of people smoking w???. Well, Mark lewis Francis is from that enviroment, and area where he was brought up. He is not from bucking ham Palace. Or some, nice quite place.
He has issues, and a life as i have said. So thats why i don’t get down on him. He is a family man, has a young child.
Am not making excuses, am just putting things inot context.
So what if he has made mistakes, he is trying to make things right maybe not perfect, moving overe to the US, getting better training, taking up offeres off Justin Gatlin.
But he is making things better, now by training with good athletes like Marlon Devonish and others, in a group. And, clos to his family.
You can’t change what has happened in the past, but the future yes.
I think MLF will have abit of fun next year.Throughtout his career so far, i have enjoyed watching him and following him.
http://editorial.gettyimages.com/source/search/details_pop.aspx?iid=51231940&cdi=0
D’you live in the area where MLF did?
I travel there daily, unfortunately not everyone is a weed smoking rastafarian, they’re just normal people.
People make bad decisions by themself, it’s not caused by what area they’re in. The only thing MLF takes to the championships from his area is that Brummie accent. 
P.S, Christie made a very strong point. The runners in Lesters group aren’t hungry. Only MLF & Chambers have it in them, Lester will make MLF a nice fluffy mediocre runner, like the rest of his group.
No i don’t live by him, but i know, i can imagine where he’s from. Am not saying its bad, but just pointing it out. I know people who smoke weed, who have taken stuff its just life these days. Some of my friends
I don’t live in no gettho, but i don’t live in bucking ham palace, or downing street. Although my hosue is nice, the area the place am from is a typical suburban place. And am a great person, but i have exsperienced the reality of growing up in it. Voilence, racism, other stuff. But i have met great people, made great frinds for the rest of my life, from child hood. None of my mates smoke or do anything.
BUt its true life, athletes have lives and are not form perfect backgrounds, and it will always be this way. Where Mark lewis Francis is form, there are great people, good culture, but there are bad things like everywhere. And i don’t even think its so bad anyway, its life.
Yeah and Mark Lewis Francis, Jason gardener, Chambers are british athletes who i support and look up to, very few british athletes i look up to. (Like Linford Christie, Collin Jackson, JOhn Regis and others.
Because they are hungry, it has nothing to do with money or lottery funding.
Rain, fog, bad day or good day, its show time.
Thank you
1, He tested positive at the Euro champs at not at Alexandra stadium so this idea of Is becos of where is from odes not wash but am sorry it shows you dont know much abiout this athletes you say you love watching. Mark is from a good decent part of Birmingham mate and has a very good role-model in his mum.
2, How dare you mention athletes name like MLF, chambers in the same breath with the likes of Chritie and Regis and Jackson. The current generation like MLF are stack lazy and are not hungary enough. Ther are contended with getting the international kit and carring on like superstars running 10.2.
3, Do you know what hunger? although I am a fan of the sport I have been opprotuned to have met and been around a lot of the old skool guys like the christies and the regis and the jackson’s and you look into those guys eye and speak to them and its train hard, live clean, run fast. Sio please dont tell me about weed cos like I said at the styart of this post a world class athletes that wants to smoke weed its not even wasting the time of day with.
My penny’s worth: MLF’s problems are ultimately down to management.
If Andy Norman had remained the Mr Big of British athletics, MLF would be well on his way to becoming the best sprinter he could be. I know Andy has his detractors. I also think the British media went feral when the great athletics writer Cliff Temple suicided and Andy was blamed in some way for criticising Cliff and calling him nuts, thereby allegedly contributing to Cliff’s terrible state of mind.
But the bottomline: Andy brought boys and girls through to become adults who could succeed at the very highest level in this world sport. He was tough and ruthless at times, but some of us know he also had a heart of gold at other times. There was a time when he was persona non grata in Brit aths, but at the same time the IAAF president Primo Nebiolo would hardly make a decision without first consulting Andy.
I reckon the Brit administration cut off their nose to spite their face. A lot of the success of a career is put down to good coaching, but coaching is at least 50 per cent good management and when Andy was effectively calling the performance plays in Britain he was the best manager in the sport by the proverbial mile.
Kikat,
I agree but Management is part of it but what can you do when we dont have an Andy Norman anymore but the people we have are absolutely useless with regards to putting their foot down.
I do not buy this idea that athletes are necessarily hungry or less so according to what their coach says. There are coaches out there who are very very quite and introspective but their training methods give you 99% preparation and 1% hunger or mental toughness or what ever you call it. MLF is a grown man he is not stupid thats the sad part. He knows exactly what he is doing, and the area he has grown up in should not be an excuse. Its down to MLF to make the necessary changes to succeed, and to regain ownership of his destiny.
Listen i did’nt say Mark lewis Francis was from a bad place, by no means. Am just pointing out what places, and society is like these days, its nothing new. Hes had a good role model, in his mum thats good. Who esle is his role model going to be, my mum is one of mine, not somone from downing street or buckingham Palace, or some pieceful heaveningly place. Where i live, ive came in contat with people who hate towards me brutal, but yet some of the greatest people i will ever know, in my life. And i may have bad times, dangerous but its made me the person i am today, the MAN.
I did’nt mention Mark Lewis Franics, or Dwain Chambers in the same breath as Linford christie, i just said these are the very few athletes i, look up to alittle bit. (I think i have contradicted myself, but i don’t care).
Dwain Chambers, Mark lewis Francis, Jason Gardener,Christian Malcom, Devonish, Darren Campell i like these guys.
These are a group of very few british athletes i support, i don’t like the rest.
But Maurice Greene, i support more, and have been inspired more than these guys. And also Linford Christie.
Yes Mark lewis Francis, has smoked weed. But i don’t think this is a big deal. Yes he should’nt be doing it but who cares hes human, he’s areal person. Hes not perfect, but perfect people are borring.
I like the guy.
I know what Hungry is!, i think Mark Lewis Francis has had, alot on his mind Family etc thats a big thing.
Maybe if it was soccer, or some other sport you could even it out, this look good achieve. But in Track and feild there is nowhere you can hide.
I don’t care, i have said what i think about Mark Lewis Franics, and its not going to change for now.
You people can carryon yapping.
If MLF chooses to follow people doing counter productive things, it means he’s weak. It’s got nothing to do with his area, his city etc.
Knowing he can still drive around his Jaguar after finishing in 5th place is a safety barrier, caused by lottery funding. If his money was took away, and his gas, water, electric, car, clothes were all took away, he wouldn’t of ate that junk food (if he did).
Please please stop saying that lottery funding is his safety net, do you know how much MLF earns from sponsorship and other means? Lottery funding is not as big a safety net as you may think, its the fact that MLF has no one to really challenge his GB position and the fact that his coach has mismanaged his talent along with other outside influences. Lets not make lottery funding a scapegoat that will be taken up by politicians or administrators who will then be justified to cut the amount given to athletes.
Funding has nothing to do with MLFs attitude. I work with guys like MLF they are misguided or have misplaced values but when pointed in the right direction they pull through. MLF needs support. He will pull through I am sure.
There are those who come from relativley well off backgrounds but still have the drive to make it. This theory that if MLF had less money would make him more focused is not really a strong arguement. There are many examples of chemical engineers, stock brokers, doctors giving up comfortable lives to pursue track glory and succeeding. The rag to riches situation is not the only way to the top. In some cases it may lead talented individuals into even more dangerous lifestyles that expose them to more harm.
Agree with martn, (lottery) funding is a prerogative for success, not a hindrance. Why would funding make him lazy, when in fact it makes it possible to train better, eat better, and focus on track in stead of spending time searching for the damn money? I have seen people quit track because of no funding, but never because of too much funding. MJ made a lot of money during his track days; it didn’t slow him down either.
What about Tim Benjamin he has been running very well this season?
One athlete out of a whole training group’s not a very good return on your money is it??
mark should get out of the uk.he must go to where the sunshines and where there is a good solid training group who will push him and make him hungry to excell.
Roughly. Do you believe him driving cars worth 60k sterling, $120k cars is a sign of his poverty?
It makes a difference. When you have nothing, you’ll fight for what you can get.
When you’re comfortable, you don’t have a reason to fight. I think that’s when someone starts to realise that sports are irrelevant.
Besides, it’s not me who’s said MLF is soft as a result of lottery funding. It’s people who’ve actually trained him who are saying it.
You know i know, and so does everyone esle on this forum. That Athletics is not comfortable, nothing fo certain. Money wise you have to work, for your money, it dose’nt matter if you win a gold medal at the olympics if you perform poor, the following year. Sponsors, appearance fee’s and money you earn will go down.
Its not like football, once you get to a cretain level, you are comfortable, you can not play a match and still get paid that week.
Its one thing, getting to the top, but in athletes staying at the top is another thing.
Its easy to get there, than to stay there.
Its like heavywieght boxing, especially for the sprinters.
Carl Lewis done alot for the sport, he was the first to say, i want to get piad and paid well. went around in private jets, to grand prixs. Why not, other sports starts do it. He was cocky, confident, arragont, new what he wanted. great man
In athletics you can’t just be in the show, as a individaul athlete, you have to be in the show Business .
take no crap.
Have you notcied that distance runners get told what to do, oh you should go for this record, and do this. I think its unfair on distance runners, when they are just made to break records run for a time in Grand prixs.
A sprinter would’nt take that pressure or crap.
Regardless of achieving nothing MLF still gets a lot of money, he does live like a football player.
While you’re talking about football, look at Japanese players. They’re a joke, but their football players have hundreds of millions worth of value, because they’re idolised.
It’s that way in this country. Athletically we’re no hopers, so everyone puts their hope in a few people, with the most potential. And the lottery funding works this way too, because they back those no hopers with money, and forget others.
Any kid interested in athletics are most likely to know local athletes. There’s MLF’s sponsorship deals right there. He doesn’t get 52m sponsorship deals like Tiger Woods or David Beckham, but he’ll still get big money.
No offence meant, wise up.
- Abi Oyepitan, 2004 200m olympic final.