Dopers don't move between teams and countries. They stay where their secrets are hidden. I'd 100% guarantee that GDS is absolutely clean. If she wasn't. something would have come out.
Yeah, burning a lot of bridges in Beaverton is not what you’d do if you had a big secret to hide.
It’s not that hard to see what’s happening here. GDS likely feels BTC’s days are numbered and is getting out ahead of the impending collapse. Best to put some distance between herself and the group when it looks like things are going down in a hurry, especially when she has legitimate concerns that rules are already being violated. Even if this isn’t the end of BTC, GDS has plenty reason to leave just for the sake of preserving her image.
Houlihan is continuing to play the sympathetic character with her latest statement and is clearly banking on winning her appeal. If the entire team is doping (like many of us suspect), no one is going to expose that secret because in doing so they destroy their own career. Even after her ban is upheld, I doubt Houlihan will squeal. She’s already invested so much in defending her innocence, and I’m sure Nike will take care of her to save the team or at least prevent any of the other athletes from being implicated.
Look what happened with NOP. The heat was on them for years and several former team members spoke out against them. And yet, when everything was said and done, none of the athletes got banned and the guy who everyone already hated for being a huge azzhole got scapegoated. Meanwhile you had morons on Twitter spouting off about the sport getting cleaner and justice being served as everyone from NOP continued to compete.
How do you see all this and not conclude that anti-doping is a farce and the notion of clean sport a fantasy?
There's this weird idea that's popped up a lot recently in politics when someone does something blatantly corrupt that the brazenness is somehow proof that the person is actually not corrupt because why wouldn't you hide something like that.
I see the same idea in Rojo's post. It would just be SO bad for Schumacher to keep Houlihan around if he knows she's dirty. So the fact that he does so is evidence that either she's somehow clean or at least he thinks she is. In other words there can't be a group-wide conspiracy because they're not acting the way Rojo thinks a guilty person should act.
Basically, a guilty person would try to act innocent, and so would avoid doing things that seem shady. So since BTC is doing things that make them seem shady, this means that they're not trying to act innocent, and therefore must be innocent!
Never mind that both guilty and innocent people want to convince people they're innocent, so I'm not sure why failure to do so is taken as evidence of innocence. The most straightforward interpretation is that Schumacher is at least somewhat OK with dopers.
The part that really confuses me is how anyone would assume they're clean and just bad at PR, since this whole saga started with a coordinated, extensive (and initially successful) PR campaign by BTC on behalf of Houlihan. The fact that they have come off terrible despite this is taken as evidence that they aren't really trying to win hearts and minds, and somehow this means that they're broadly innocent.
I'm not saying that BTC and Schumacher are necessarily dirty. But certainly my suspicions continue to rise as they continue to bend the rules and support a convicted doper. I'm not sure why Rojo's don't
This is spot on. They are acting with impunity because they think they'll get away with doing whatever their hearts desire, like they always have.
And why haven't Jerry and Shalane put out a statement on behalf of the BTC since GDS's was published?
Hey, Flanagan posted some meme on Instagram and *hair flip* screw you little people who dare to criticize me and my cookbook empire /. cult of personality.
Where do you even see these Instagram stories? I have an account, but when I go to her page all I see are her normal pictures. Nothing posted within the past couple days.
Green gets hate because he’s threatening to the “old guard” of old white dudes that have had a monopoly on top talent in the sport for over a decade. It’s not too different from the reaction when Joe Bosshard got into the coaching game.
It’s the athletes — particularly women — who are voting with their feet and making it clear that Al Sal / Schumacher / Haas / Gags, et al aren’t the only games in town anymore.
Haas has coached less than five people ever, none of them successfully. He is a coach in his own mind only.
The Brojos call themselves journalists. I respect what they've done for the sport. However, Rojo on this very thread has referred to himself as a journalist. If you claim that, your reasoning and sources are going to be fact checked and debated. Your ethics are important whether you like it or not. Have all the crazy opinions you want but if you're a journalist your facts have to be sound. People have to trust that you are at least approaching your subjects with a measure of objectivity. Selling shirts in order to provide money to a convicted doper, who is currently banned from the sport by several regulating bodies of note, is far from objective in my opinion. You can't have it both ways.
"journalist"
I can't imagine how difficult it would be to follow this sport without letsrun. it boggles me how little people appreciate what we have here.
a news article aggregator on a white background would destroy letsrun
Where do you even see these Instagram stories? I have an account, but when I go to her page all I see are her normal pictures. Nothing posted within the past couple days.
At first, I couldn't find her stories either. First, search "shalaneflanagan" in the Instagram search bar, click on the name, then once on her page, click on the circular profile pic at the top left. There you can see her stories.
I have to say, her snide, vague comments really made me feel ill. She's definitely lost me as a fan.
Anyone see Shalane instagram stories right now? Look them up before they disappear. Pretty passive aggressive. I love Shalane, one of myheros, but can't believe she'd rather stand with a convicted doper than a clean athlete she was supposed to be coaching.
I’ve lost an enormous amount of respect for Shalane Flanagan over the last 72 hours. It’s hard for me to appreciate her NY win at this point.
If you apply the same context on Shalane's view of Rupp/Hassay success , you would have to same Shalane's win is also suspect .
Here's what Shalane has posted in Instagram stories...
"NUTRITION FACT: If you drink a gallon of water per day, you won't have time for other people's drama because you'll be too busy peeing."
"negativity is contagious. unhappiness is contagious. fear is contagious. but so is happiness. so is optimism. so is love. surround yourself with people who bring out the best in you. and strive to be a reflection of what you want to receive."
And also a montage of happy, happy, positive BTC runners being happy, happy, smiley and positive.
She's clearly thinks the best defense (when you've been brazenly supporting a convicted cheater) is to go on the offensive with passive-aggressive, pseudo-positive, empty platitudes aimed at your perceived enemies. She doesn't realize that by doing so, not only does she come across as a hypocrite, but also a bit of a jerk.
Your focusing entirely on the MB side of this story. In the past two years, we have heard publicly from a dozen or so U of G alums about abuse they claim to have suffered at the hands of DST and his IST over a number of years. In their statement, they claim to have made numerous formal complaints over the that were not responded to by the U of G. It's therefore not just me asking questions concerning who knew what, when (indeed, who DID what, when) over the almost 20 years DST was at the helm. Stellingwerf worked as closely with DST as anyone apart from Chris Moulton over a number of years, and owes his start in IST directly to DST. He may not be guilty of anything at all, but he, like everyone else around during those years, has questions to answer-- questions that a proper investigation would directly entail.
Hi, I am guessing by the tone, content, and username you are Steve Boyd.
Stellingwerff moved to Victoria in 2011. He worked in Switzerland for Power Bar for most of the prior four or five years before that, and had another year before that in the Netherlands.
Do I think UofG should have a full investigation? Yes. Would I want to ask questions of Trent relating to his time there? Yes. Was he literally 5000km away or more for almost the entire time any of the signatories to the IRun letter were at Guelph? Also yes. After DST went down, has Trent worked with multiple athletes who suffered abuse at SR? Also yes. I'm sure he would cooperate with such an investigation.
Anyway. These are the kind of innuendo heavy posts that got Steve Boyd fired from Queens. Would be sad if no lessons had been learned there.
No athlete should be put in a position where they're scouring evidence or talking to Shelby directly to see if they feel comfortable working out with her in the same weight room when she has been banned from competition.
Shelby (and Shalane) are taking this like a personal judgment when the judgment's been taken out of everyone's hands. You can still personally give Shelby the benefit of the doubt without the added stress of having her train by your side. It doesn't matter how closely Shelby and her legal team are hewing to the rules in terms of training proximity, this is pretty unprofessional coaching when GDS has already communicated her discomfort and offered alternative suggestions. And when it's a pretty realistic take to be concerned about reputation. How many times have pro athletes questioned Salazar's entire group?
It's crazy that Shelby came out with a statement and BTC didn't.
It's clear BTC values Shelby over any other athlete in the club that had an issue or were not comfortable with the setup. Basically GDS was told this is the way it is and if you don't like it, we don't care.
It's clear BTC values Shelby over any other athlete in the club that had an issue or were not comfortable with the setup. Basically GDS was told this is the way it is and if you don't like it, we don't care.
BTC coaches behavior in this situation regarding Houlihan's drug ban is a example of denial and hypocrisy that is seen in all area's of out lives: political, social, economic. We always hope it will stay out of sport but it doesn't.