Shawn Crawford hit with 2 year suspension

Anyone know what the "proper" or "recommended" way to retire from T&F? Is there an official letter/email you have to send to USATF? Is there a web-based where-abouts site you have to deregister from? Just curious if there is a structured and well known process that all pro T&F athletes know about.

What were the three dates of the missed tests/whereabouts? I wonder if any of them happened before the 2012 Olympic Trials. Be curious to see what he and his coach (BK) would have to say about missed tests prior to the 2012 OT.

Dont jump to conclusions wrote:

What is not mentioned is that no one notifies you to file paper work if you retire.

It will not be the last time this will happen or last.

I would hope that they would add protocol that simply would have sign or call in , Im retired and take me off the list.

He could have grounds for a lawsuit.

Not true. My girlfriend went to two Olympics in rowing and was even tested at her home in East Lansing, MI two months after the season was over (or after the World Championships).

When she decided to retire, she knew full well that she needed to notify USADA. Doing so meant that she no longer needed to update her whereabouts forms.

This was stupid on the part of the athlete, especially one who has so much experience.

noticing wrote:

He's 35.

OK, I screwed up the math on that. And I have a degree in math. Sad.

how can you be this dim wrote:

not paperwork. For failing to be found when he was supposed to be tested. You are supposed to provide your whereabouts at all times and be available. You either avoid the testers if you're using, or you are just stupid. Especially since you are given 3 chances. Unless he is retiring and never filed the retirement forms like Chris L.

Surely if you miss one test, they send you a letter saying something like, "Hey dude, you missed a test".

Then if you miss the second one, you get another letter warning you, "You missed your test again. One more and you're banned".

I would have thought that at that point most people would think it was a good idea to ring up USADA and ask them, "Hey I'm retired, is there a form I have to fill in or something?".

Yeah, I would hope so. To me, it all seems very restrictive. Like I have a friend in Thailand right now, and he has been there for the last 5 weeks and is coming back soon. If he was an athlete like this guy mentioned by the OP, what would he do? Tell them he is off to Thailand for 6 weeks? Or not? Because it would seem that he would be unavailable for testing. And would he be told he can't go to Thailand if he can't be tested over there? I mean, how does it work? Is it like these athletes have to stay put, or what?

how to retire from T&F?? wrote:

Anyone know what the "proper" or "recommended" way to retire from T&F? Is there an official letter/email you have to send to USATF? Is there a web-based where-abouts site you have to deregister from? Just curious if there is a structured and well known process that all pro T&F athletes know about.

Looks like he filed his retirement paperwork with USATF, but there was something else he was supposed to do with USADA? Sounds like a broken process somewhere.

Bobby Kersee:

“I don’t understand this. He hasn’t put on spikes all year,” Kersee told The Associated Press in a phone interview. “I just don’t understand how this is allowed to happen? I think it’s wrong. Eventually, the truth has to come out.

“A person who hasn’t put on spikes all year, a married man trying to take care of his family and what does he get for the end of his career — a two-year ban? I don’t understand.”

“If they (drug testers) show up at my track looking for an athlete of mine and for some reason or another I gave them the day off — because maybe their foot was hurting — I can inform them, ‘Hey, someone is looking for you,’ and I’ll get them there,” Kersee said. “But no one has come up to me and asked for a drug test for Shawn all year.”

Jill Greer, USATF Director of Communications:

There is paperwork an athlete needs to fill out in order to officially retire and be removed from the out-of-competition testing pool. U.S. Track and Field spokeswoman Jill Geer said Crawford filed his retirement papers this year.

If the underlying cause of this is a dysfunctional institutional system bloated with duplicative administration, it will hardly be surprising.

Here's Shawn training with John Smith's group: Carmelita Jeter, David Neville, Jason Richardson...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4HcKooU2v8

That was in 2012, prior to London OG's.

Jeter, Richardson, Nike, Gatlin, Trevor Graham...mmmm...

Here is Shawn Crawford's finest moments in Man vs Beast:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y5QwYJoLUfE

Nice interviewing by Carl Lewis.

yeah...a real fan who remembers the setup. I was quite disappointed that Kenteris and Thanou didn't get a chance to race. No one believed that a clean final was at hand anyway, so for me, at least, it was a once in a lifetime chance to see Greeks in Athens score a podium.

Crawford no test ban is a bit odd but as a trainer maybe he wanted to look more the part? Who knows, but this now makes all three 2004, male 200 meter medalist guilty of some type of drug violation (although Williams pot bust is not quite enhancement).

The ideal of Kenteris and Thanou riding around on a motorcycle and falling days before the games, was and still is laughable.

14-Flat wrote:

Dont jump to conclusions wrote:

What is not mentioned is that no one notifies you to file paper work if you retire.

It will not be the last time this will happen or last.

I would hope that they would add protocol that simply would have sign or call in , Im retired and take me off the list.

He could have grounds for a lawsuit.

Not true. My girlfriend went to two Olympics in rowing and was even tested at her home in East Lansing, MI two months after the season was over (or after the World Championships).

When she decided to retire, she knew full well that she needed to notify USADA. Doing so meant that she no longer needed to update her whereabouts forms.

This was stupid on the part of the athlete, especially one who has so much experience.

---

The statement is accurate 100%. Athlete was not informed of need to file paper work for retirement only to respond to testing protocol.

Your girlfriend made a personal decision to file retirement paperwork and yes this would take her off the list.

Athletes intelligence is another topic has nothing to do with accuracy of statement.

Bobby Kersee was caught off guard by the ban on Crawford, the 2004 Olympic 200-meter champion. At 35 years old, this suspension would all but end Crawford's career, but Kersee insisted he has already stepped away.

"I don't understand this. He hasn't put on spikes all year," Kersee told The Associated Press in a phone interview. "I just don't understand how this is allowed to happen? I think it's wrong. Eventually, the truth has to come out.

"A person who hasn't put on spikes all year, a married man trying to take care of his family and what does he get for the end of his career - a two-year ban? I don't understand."

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/more/news/20130418/olympic-champ-shawn-crawford-two-year-ban.ap/

It looks like SOMEBODY f---ed up, now we'll have to see who.

It is officially CYA time.

Don't know if he's been using lately, but he sure as hell was back in 2004.

Well, I think he's about the only high-level athlete who trained with Trevor Graham and didn't test positive eventually.

I think this issue establishes that it wasn't because he was more intelligent than the rest.

But he didn't keep the medal he won through disqualifications in 2008.

Presumably because it wasn't earned the right way.

look he was always big, except for 2001 and 2002, he looks kinda skinny then.

He was in the 200m final in Edmonton his first major. That was a long time ago.

new info wrote:

Jill Greer, USATF Director of Communications:

There is paperwork an athlete needs to fill out in order to officially retire and be removed from the out-of-competition testing pool. U.S. Track and Field spokeswoman Jill Geer said Crawford filed his retirement papers this year.

I'm guessing the key sentence above is that he "...filed his retirement papers this year", meaning 2013.

Probably went down like this... he announced his retirement after the 2012 U.S. Olympic Trials via press conference or twitter or facebook or whatever... he assumes that's all required, but he's unaware (for some obtuse reasoning) he needs to file official retirement paperwork with USATF... his wife, Ginnie Crawford - a professional track athlete herself, doesn't ask him whether he's filed his retirement paperwork... his coach, Bobby Kersee - a professional track coach for decades, doesn't ask him whether he's filed his retirement paperwork... his training partners/close T&F friends/assistant coaches such as Allyson Felix, Dawn Harper, Jeneba Tarmoh, Kenneth Ferguson, Joanna Hayes, Valerie Brisco Hooks, etc. don't ask him whether he's filed his retirement paperwork... USATF hasn't received the necessary retirement paperwork that all retiring athletes file, so they don't notify USADA to remove him from the testing pool... USADA doesn't receive his required quarterly whereabouts form, and boom, he's banned.

Really no big deal, and just an innocent mistake... but then comes along the Al Sharpton wanna-be, Jesse Jackson imposter, Don King protégé, Marion Barry impersonator Bobby Kersee:

“I don’t understand this. He hasn’t put on spikes all year. I just don’t understand how this is allowed to happen? I think it’s wrong. Eventually, the truth has to come out."

“A person who hasn’t put on spikes all year, a married man trying to take care of his family and what does he get for the end of his career — a two-year ban? I don’t understand.”

OK Bobby, let's explain it to you like you're a fifth grader, because obviously you aren't smarter than one: You're his coach, you've coached countless professional athletes over your decades of coaching, you know (or should know) the USATF and USADA rules regarding competing and retiring. Don't blame the system, don't invent some conspiracy theory, don't invoke a black man's necessity to take care of his family. You messed up by not counseling him to file the retirement paperwork, and he messed up by not filing it. Just leave it at that, and leave all the Pentecostal, hand waving, the man is down to get us posturing for your track practices. How in the heck have JJK and the athletes he coaches put up with this bumbling gas-bag for all these years. Seems like every year I read something about his whacky antics and bizarre statements.

Pretty par for the course with regards to Bobby Kersee;

http://www.stltoday.com/news/article_237eeeaf-9df5-5b98-9427-c278968a331e.html?print=1

He may be a good T&F coach, but he's never been accused of being too collaborative, easy to work with, business savvy, or accountable for his actions. If you read the article above, after the JJK Boys and Girls Club closed due to financial troubles, after the JJK center cut 6-figure deals with the Kersee's that came under tremendous scrutiny, after the United Way put the JJK center on probation, after the IRS has filed multiple liens against the Kersees, after court judgments ruling that Kersee's businesses owed hundreds of thousands of dollars, after some of the JJK center's board members complained the Bobby was too abrasive, after eight JJK center board members left the foundation and major donors starting pulling early on back in 2000, after a long-time East St. Louis educator described Bobby as "the fly in the ointment", after 14 of the 17 original board members of the JJK center have left, after one of his company's supporting the JJK center stopped filing federal taxes and stopped paying rent, etc. etc. etc.

After all of that foolishness, how much responsibility did Bobby Kersee take, what was his response? Unbelievably, he responded -- "At the end of the day, I think the true story is ... we cared too much." Really Bobby, that's all that you can own from the tragedy of the JJK Boys and Girls Club that was supposed to help the impoverished youth of East St. Louis but was run into the ground by bad business decisions, nepotism, incompetence, and non-collaborative & non-inclusive leadership, you cared too much? Really? So why should we be surprised when he starts shouting at the wind with regards to the unfairness and hidden agendas of Shawn Crawford's 2-year ban due to unfiled retirement paperwork. Should we have expected Bobby to own up to his role as Shawn's coach and that he didn't counsel Shawn to file the retirement paperwork? Or did he just "care too much" to inform him.