I’m pretty sure the prohibitions apply to “participation” in competitions, not training. (The rules are different for banned coaches, who cannot participate in training at all.) It’s still not a good look from BTC and puts the athletes on the team in an inappropriate position.
“In competition” can be defined pretty liberally in some cases (see: THC is only a prohibited substance “in competition” and includes the days before any particular race takes place). BTC has athletes all over the world, so depending on the athletes’ schedules, their coaching staff could be considered “in competition” for pretty long stretches of time.
At a bare minimum, BTC should make any legal guidance available to each and every athlete on the team. Common sense would dictate that they not put themselves or their athletes in this position in the first place.
It’s good for Gabriela to get out. I imagine that other non-American athletes may follow suit as their federations won’t want their stars’ eligibility to be up for debate for Shelby Houlihan’s sake.
