PS. We didn't put this in the article, but for the record, when Kyle called Jonathan back, he started the interview by squashing the doping rumors.
"That could not be further from the truth relative to doping. That’s not true at all, so not quite sure where that came from."
Then he said this later:
"You have my word, nothing even remotely close [to doping]."
If she’s injured, I don’t believe she or Coogan are obligated to put out a statement. Runners go dark all the time for various reasons, including injuries, yet these demands are not made in this manner. I would probably just ignore it.
They certainly aren't legally obligated, but I totally feel like they need to issue a statement. A basic level of professionalism needs to be expected from our stars. We should know what Athing Mu is doing, Parker, etc. The Orioles give out injury updates all the time.
Pro sports teams have to be public about injuries because of the rules on managing rosters. Pro runners are always guarded about how much info they make public about their training and injuries. Many do not want their competition to know that they might not be 100% when they race because that could change race tactics to their disadvantage. There is also a mental game where you just never know how you are going to perform after an injury. No athlete wants to spend every press conference before a race answering the question "can you still . . . " about their injury. For a lot of people, it is best to keep things quiet until after the race.
sjtrama wrote: At this point, nobody in actual T&F media to my knowledge has actually reported anything. Don’t feel like they owe us anything yet.
But lots of the “movers and shakers”, as rojo put it, were texting about it hours before anything showed up here. That’s why those receiving those texts didn’t use any names if they posted about it, because nothing is public. As rojo pointed out, this information/rumor has been pinging since yesterday morning. Rojo was correct when he said LRC has been downstream on this one.
They certainly aren't legally obligated, but I totally feel like they need to issue a statement. A basic level of professionalism needs to be expected from our stars. We should know what Athing Mu is doing, Parker, etc. The Orioles give out injury updates all the time.
How can anyone who loves the sport downvote this? Ok, some of you hate Rojo and blindly downvote everything he posts - you are stupid, considering context (like, you are on the site he started), but whatever, fine. But to not want updates on the sport you follow? I don't get it.
Why should Valby feel obligated to respond to rumors on LetsRun? Because she decided to pause her account for a few days and all the geniuses on LetsRun assume it’s due to doping? she owes you nothing.
Why should Valby feel obligated to respond to rumors on LetsRun? Because she decided to pause her account for a few days and all the geniuses on LetsRun assume it’s due to doping? she owes you nothing.
Agreed. And no one on LRC owes her the benefit of the doubt until she explains why she has disappeared.
Hard not to draw some parallels to the Shedeur Sanders prank call situation. Like Sanders, Valby doesn't have a traditional agent. Sanders thus had his contact info on some massive NFL listserv instead of the agent's info leading to the prank call. Now, Valby has her dad as rep, and while that might be good financially, there's nobody there to tell her the optics of going dark for months and then deleting social media is going to make for some speculation. And now nobody's there to quickly dispel all this (if it should be dispelled). Even if you think Valby owes nothing, having the running world speculating she's doping is bad regardless of whether it's deserved or not.
This post was edited 22 seconds after it was posted.
How can anyone who loves the sport downvote this? Ok, some of you hate Rojo and blindly downvote everything he posts - you are stupid, considering context (like, you are on the site he started), but whatever, fine. But to not want updates on the sport you follow? I don't get it.
Why should Valby feel obligated to respond to rumors on LetsRun? Because she decided to pause her account for a few days and all the geniuses on LetsRun assume it’s due to doping? she owes you nothing.
This rumor started circling yesterday morning, before the Let'sRun thread. That doesn't mean it's true, and you can blame Let'sRun for fanning the flames, but you can't blame Let'sRun for igniting the fire.
I can. I expect it to get even bigger until we get a statement.
1) Parker Valby was one of the greatest collegiate runners we've ever seen.
2) Ms. Valby is paid A TON to race for New Balance. She is a first year pro and hasn't raced once outdoors. Virtually every healthy pro runner in the world has opened up by now.
3) She's also known for her looks and photos and yet she deletes her instagram page.
If you put #1, #2 and #3 together, that's not normal.
Maybe she's just injured? Well Jonathan Gault bumped into her NB coach Mark Coogan last week in Boston and Jon asked him something along the lines of "Has she been injured."
He didn't answer the question and said something along the lines of, "We hope to see her racing soon."
There really aren't that many options.
Running injury
Non-running medical issue
Mental issue - wants a break from the sport, unhappy with team, doesn't like pro running, depression, etc.
Contract dispute
Doping issue - tested positive, whereabouts, etc.
All is fine and she's just trolling the fans along with those closest to her by not racing and not making any statements
I have reached out to Coach Coogan for comment. Jonathan has reached out to Mr. Valby for comment. We will let you know if we hear anything.
It's as is you are salivating over this and hoping she's a doper. Every time you post you prove that you are an active participant in the libel and not just hosting the content.
I know you think you are smarter than everyone else, but I assure you that in this case, you are not.
sjtrama wrote: At this point, nobody in actual T&F media to my knowledge has actually reported anything. Don’t feel like they owe us anything yet.
But lots of the “movers and shakers”, as rojo put it, were texting about it hours before anything showed up here. That’s why those receiving those texts didn’t use any names if they posted about it, because nothing is public. As rojo pointed out, this information/rumor has been pinging since yesterday morning. Rojo was correct when he said LRC has been downstream on this one.
It sounds like the media (RW, Citius, Outside, FastRunning, AOTR, etc.) has their own backchannels w/o using LRC to get info.
Create any usernames you want, but I suggest the sobriquets of Silly or Unhinged would work best. Arguing maniacally without citing any law or precedent makes it obvious you have no idea what you are talking about.
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