Alexi Grewel in training for comeback at 50! Inspiring or Unwelcome?

[TubularBills]

“The first objective of what I see as a three-year commitment to racing is to ride Quiznos and be the only person to compete in all three of its incarnations, Red Zinger, Coors Classic and Quiznos Pro Challenge,” Grewal told VeloNews on Friday.

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010...rewal-is-deadly-serious-about-comeback_142905

and despite admitting doping throughout his career:

velonews.competitor.com/2008/04/news/an-essay-by-1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

Heroic? Inspired? or Outcast? Pariah?

Oops, didn't see the thread in Road: General - but it still might make an interesting Clinic Thread relative to the merits of an admitted doper reentering a sport trying to rid itself of the doping stigma.

http://forum.cyclingnews.com/showthread.php?p=345319#post345319

 

[TexPat]

http://competitorradio.competitor.com/2008/04/222mark-whitehead/
Good riddance to bad rubbish.
Stick to carpentry, Grewal. At least you won't need to blood dope to do your current job.

 

[ricara]

You're tuned into the wrong station TexPat.

Alexi did NOT blood dope at the Olympics:

"Grewal said he didn't participate in a pre-Olympic blood doping program coordinated by U.S. coaches and officials because he was estranged from U.S. head coach Eddie Borysewicz and training on his own. Grewal said Borysewicz had discussed blood doping with him the winter of 1984 but didn't learn of the actual procedure until weeks after the race. Such blood doping was legal at the time, though it was banned soon after the '84 Olympics."

 

[TexPat]

Yeah, right. He only doped when it didn't matter.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2008...1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

 

[Guttercat]

You're tuned into the wrong station TexPat.

Alexi did NOT blood dope at the Olympics:

"Grewal said he didn't participate in a pre-Olympic blood doping program coordinated by U.S. coaches and officials because he was estranged from U.S. head coach Eddie Borysewicz and training on his own. Grewal said Borysewicz had discussed blood doping with him the winter of 1984 but didn't learn of the actual procedure until weeks after the race. Such blood doping was legal at the time, though it was banned soon after the '84 Olympics."

EddieB was an interesting fellow. I met him once when he was out training some young men. We chatted up a bit. He eyed me w/that "Eddie B look" and said, "Train hard. Eat, Sleep" (his mantra). But there was something sneakingly shifty about him... Still, a totally likeable guy. But I can see how his traditional sensibilities may not have meshed well with the brash Grewal.

Edit to add: and as far as Grewal returning to the sport? At this point it's just an interesting tidbit of information in my day; much like the weird dude I saw walking down the middle of the road in his pajamas while I was riding this evening.

 

[flicker]

I think grewal admitted doping when he beat bauer in the olympics. He had some epiphany afterwards which in the velo news magazine. bauer was clean grewal dirty. grewal keeps the medal wtf grewal?

 

[ricara]

Yeah, right. He only doped when it didn't matter.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2008...1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

Oh, wow, TexPat, ya got me!!

"As an amateur among the pros, caffeine injections replaced the pills and the stomach cramps went away too. When in Rome do as the Romans do!

"The hard stuff, ephedrine, was reserved for when you really needed it, a few certain events where I was prone to asthma, and when you really wanted it, such as the Bob Cook Memorial."

Caffeine, ephedrine....what's next, Coca-Cola???

Yep, that Alexi! He was a hard-core doper alright! Off with his head!

 

[TexPat]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Welcome to the cesspool that is moral relativism.
Cheating is cheating. I'm sure Steve Bauer agrees.

 

[Race Radio]

Yeah, The dope available to Alexi was weak compared to todays programs. He is a world class wacko who is a pain to be around......but for shear entertainment value this is great news. Train wreck.

 

[tockit]

Yeah, The dope available to Alexi was weak compared to todays programs. He is a world class wacko who is a pain to be around......but for shear entertainment value this is great news. Train wreck.

Why is / was he a pain to be around?

I don't know much about the guy other than he is an admitted doper.

 

[pedaling squares]

... for shear entertainment value this is great news. Train wreck.

No doubt about that. It would be hard to avert your eyes if this guy was in a race. Me, I think he'd get detained by event security before he even signed in.

 

[S2Sturges]

Why is / was he a pain to be around?

I don't know much about the guy other than he is an admitted doper.

Nor do I, but a mate of mine was CDN national team member when he was racing said he thought Alexi was more interested in getting laid than racing and that he had a Hindenberg sized ego. The other US Nationals team members despised him apparently...

 

[craig1985]

A google search of Alexi Grewel gives me this:

 

[Le breton]

A google search of Alexi Grewel gives me this:

You didn't look well enough, or else you would have found this
Athens Diary
Mohini second Indian-American to win medal
Prabhjot Singh

Twenty-six-year-old Mohini Bhardwaj has become the second Indian-American to win an Olympic medal after Alexi Grewal.

Mo, as she is known to her friends, was the member of the US gymnastics team that won silver in the artistic team championship by aggregating 113.584 points behind Romania (114.283) here on Tuesday night.

In the 1984 Olympic Games at Los Angeles, Alexi Grewal, representing the USA, won the cycling road race gold. Alexi, whose father is an Indian, is now a religious preacher while her younger brother, Danny, is a top road cyclist.

Now, about his brother, isn't his name Rishi?

Anyway, the Grewal brother are well known around here as they both raced in Haute-Savoie, the French département that borders with Switzerland and Italy.
Didn't Alexi marry a girl from the area?

So from cyclist to carpenter, to preacher, to cyclist again. Has he gone full circle?
( or is Alexi now a woman as the newspaper article seems to imply?)

 

[Le breton]

Anyway, the Grewal brother are well known

read the Grewal brothers

 

[ultimobici]

Yeah, right. He only doped when it didn't matter.
http://velonews.competitor.com/2008...1984-olympic-gold-medalist-alexi-grewal_74053

Did you actually read that article? If so, you need to go back to reading comprehension classes!

 

[Bag_O_Wallet]

No doubt about that. It would be hard to avert your eyes if this guy was in a race. Me, I think he'd get detained by event security before he even signed in.

Oh my. Velonews should have pulled the plug on that story when they saw the 1000 year old bike and the hiking boots. Cuz it looks like a publicity stunt by someone who's lost it completely.

How long before Gaggioli offers him a contract???

 

[Race Radio]

No doubt about that. It would be hard to avert your eyes if this guy was in a race. Me, I think he'd get detained by event security before he even signed in.

I bet Alexi lives in that storage unit he is leaned up against.

 

[Digger]

I bet Alexi lives in that storage unit he is leaned up against.

RR is he a recovering addict?

 

[Race Radio]

RR is he a recovering addict?

Yes, that is what I have heard. He was homeless for many years

 

[sartain]

Yes, that is what I have heard. He was homeless for many years

Unless that picture was been PSed, looks like he still has good form!

 

[fasthill]

I'm pretty sure the whole story is an April 1st joke that was published too soon by mistake.

 

[forty four]

Thanks for your thoughtful reply. Welcome to the cesspool that is moral relativism.
Cheating is cheating. I'm sure Steve Bauer agrees.

caffeine ephedra come on? find another sport bro you dont get it.

 

[forty four]

go alexi i love the old guys who are still fast i always chat with thurlow rogers when i see him at races same kinda guy amazing engine races all year.

 

[Digger]

caffeine ephedra come on? find another sport bro you dont get it.

I think TexPat 'gets it' more than just about anyone here. Unfortunately for him.