Banned coach hired by local junior college

Some documents indicate he got off lightly with a promise never to coach "elite" athletes again.

One newspaper report says of his sentencing:

In agreeing to a one-year probationary sentence for Korchemny, U.S. District Court Judge Susan Illston described the coach as a "unique" defendant whose involvement with BALCO seemed to be "modest" or "minimal." Korchemny cited a probation report that included letters from athletes and other people attesting to Korchemny's high character.

Seems an extremely odd move, though, to hire as an assistant track and field coach someone banned for life from the USATF. Why don't you contact the Merritt AD?

I think it an odd move by him, it would be better to just go away quietly. I do know many ex-pro football players that were found dirty to coach HS football but do so as a "I learned from my mistakes" and kind of become an anti-PED advocate. Whether they mean it or not who knows.

The website says: The following individuals are currently serving doping suspensions. During their suspension period, these individuals are ineligible to participate in the activities of USATF and/or in Athletics competitions.

So he is not competing in any competitions and he is coaching in the JC system, not a "USATF Activity." So he may have found a loophole and working in the gray area.

Too bad.

Not to mention College coaches that hire ex drug cheats for running summer cross country camps. Wasn't there a LR thread about one camp who had a drug cheat on the staff?

Would you have a convicted pedophile working at a day care center?

The HS I coach at has a baseball coach on probation for bullying (should be fired) instead the AD backed him for a coach of the year honor. she has backed him for years and covered it up. Only this year have we been able to prove that he is a liar and a bully.

Er... wrote:

Why don't you contact the Merritt AD?

Good question. I did think of that. Then I noticed that the AD is also the head track coach, so figured that would go nowhere. Unless the head coach truly doesn't know his past history, which I would find very hard to believe.

It does shed some light on the issue that without a true coaching license system, one cannot really be "banned". For instance, if a parent wanted to hire Remy to coach his kid, there is nothing that could be done. Now USATF could deny Remy a credential so that he would only be able to buy a ticket to a USATF event, but it really shows the limits of a "ban". It is not like a doctor who loses his license and then cannot practice again. (Or at least not in the open).

luv2run wrote:

It does shed some light on the issue that without a true coaching license system, one cannot really be "banned". For instance, if a parent wanted to hire Remy to coach his kid, there is nothing that could be done. Now USATF could deny Remy a credential so that he would only be able to buy a ticket to a USATF event, but it really shows the limits of a "ban". It is not like a doctor who loses his license and then cannot practice again. (Or at least not in the open).

Yeah. I am hoping thatsection 2.10 becomes adopted:

This would make working with an ineligible person a violation for the athlete. The proposed penalty is 6 years or the remainder of the suspension of the ineligible person (whichever is shorter). This would make it a violation to work with Remi Korchemny and the handful of other coaches like him with suspensions. I don't know if NJCAA is under the jurisdiction of IAAF/WADA in any wa, so in his case, he maybe could continue to work at a JC, but every athlete at that school could in effect receive a 6 year ban from anything under the jurisdiction of WADA and IAAF. That pretty much limits them from any of the more legit races.

I'd contact the AD and include the college's sports media rep. Provide a link to the lifetime ban list. Opine on how the college's president wouldn't like the potential press that came with employing a convicted drug cheat as a coach of impressionable, young athletes - particularly athletes that might be looking for that edge to make it to the next level of university competition. Probably wouldn't look good for the AD/Coach that either didn't do his/her research, or didn't care either.

A has been wrote:

Er... wrote:

Why don't you contact the Merritt AD?

Good question. I did think of that. Then I noticed that the AD is also the head track coach, so figured that would go nowhere. Unless the head coach truly doesn't know his past history, which I would find very hard to believe.

Good idea about including a media rep. I'll do that. I'll have a non-track friend send the email. I'm a bit too immersed in the track community here to want anything getting back to some of the other coaches I work with since the bay area track community is pretty incestuous.

10th Mtn Miler wrote:

I'd contact the AD and include the college's sports media rep. Provide a link to the lifetime ban list.

Opine on how the college's president wouldn't like the potential press that came with employing a convicted drug cheat as a coach of impressionable, young athletes - particularly athletes that might be looking for that edge to make it to the next level of university competition. Probably wouldn't look good for the AD/Coach that either didn't do his/her research, or didn't care either.

A has been wrote:

Good question. I did think of that. Then I noticed that the AD is also the head track coach, so figured that would go nowhere. Unless the head coach truly doesn't know his past history, which I would find very hard to believe.

I think you should take a step back and just try to understand how incredibly intelligent Remi is. The blinders go on for most people because of the anti-doping violation, but if you look past that you'll see that anybody who wasn't super emotional and reactive would want the guy on their team. He is brilliant.

You think the guy is supplying drugs to JC kids? Give me a break. A mechanical engineer from Soviet Union that ends up working for Stanford and the US Army, but he's not qualified to work with JC athletes? You can't be serious.

The smartest people in the world have knowledge of the dark side, that's just a fact of life. I'd love to be able to pick this guys brain.

I'm aware that he is considered one of the best hurdles coaches out there. I have had a front row seat to probably 15-20 of his workouts over the past year as I work with my athletes on the same track.Do I think he is supplying drugs to JC kids? I do think he would dope top athletes of that age, yes. You have obviously never had any lengthy conversations with him if you would even question that. He makes it absolutely clear that he is all about pushing as hard as possible to win. Don't forget that some of the athletes he did dope during the balco days were only 20 or 21 years old. The first time I ever met Remi, he approached me at the track to try to convince me to bring him on board with my athletes. He was extremely pushy, "do you know who I am? Obviously you don't know who I am if you aren't asking for my help, all these hurdle drills you are doing, I invented all of those." The man is absolutely convinced everything he does is right and justified, he has no shame or remorse for his past pushing drugs onto athletes, so why would you possibly believe this isn't still his M.O.? The closest he has ever come to criticizing his past is saying he regrets that his past work is "worth nothing now." He doesn't regret his actions, he only regrets the consequences.If you don't believe he would still dope his athletes, look up Andre Berto, a boxer training with Korchemny years who tested positive 2 years ago.So to directly answer your points:- I am fully aware that he is an excellent coach- I do believe he would dope JC athletes if he thinks they have a chance to be elite (Merritt had a freshman run 10.38 last year)- I never said he wasn't "qualified" to work with these athletes, I argued he shouldn't be allowed to because he has a lifetime banDon't forget this is the bay area, there are lots of excellent coaches here, he isn't the only fish in the sea.

Most Interesting Coach ITW wrote:

I think you should take a step back and just try to understand how incredibly intelligent Remi is. The blinders go on for most people because of the anti-doping violation, but if you look past that you'll see that anybody who wasn't super emotional and reactive would want the guy on their team. He is brilliant.

You think the guy is supplying drugs to JC kids? Give me a break. A mechanical engineer from Soviet Union that ends up working for Stanford and the US Army, but he's not qualified to work with JC athletes? You can't be serious.

The smartest people in the world have knowledge of the dark side, that's just a fact of life. I'd love to be able to pick this guys brain.

Don't forget that Salazar was implicated by Balco.

Good point. Also don't forget that this isn't true.

opinionated guy wrote:

Don't forget that Salazar was implicated by Balco.

Oh yeah.... wrote:

Good point. Also don't forget that this isn't true.

Keep drinking the Kool-aide, or do a google search.

Oh yeah.... wrote:

Good point. Also don't forget that this isn't true.

opinionated guy wrote:

Don't forget that Salazar was implicated by Balco.

Salazar "had ties" to Balco in the sense that he had professional relationships with some of the people involved with Balco.

T&F is a relatively small community. A lot of the top coaches know each other, might discuss ideas. I don't think Salazar having "ties" to Balco should be surprising to anybody, whether you think he is a dirty coach or think he is not a dirty coach.

Oh yeah.... wrote:

Good point. Also don't forget that this isn't true.

opinionated guy wrote:

Don't forget that Salazar was implicated by Balco.

Salazar "had ties" to Balco in the sense that he had professional relationships with some of the people involved with Balco.

T&F is a relatively small community. A lot of the top coaches know each other, might discuss ideas. I don't think Salazar having "ties" to Balco should be surprising to anybody, whether you think he is a dirty coach or think he is not a dirty coach.

Personally, I like the fact he isn't apologetic regarding the doping. He doesn't see it as being wrong, so why should he apologize?

I just don't see someone like him risking getting into trouble by helping a JC athlete aquire drugs. That's all I'm saying. If he were working with international level athletes, that would be shady because you know drugs are one of his go-to weapons. Not for a JC athlete, though, I don't see that being worth the risk.

Thanks for the response, you obviously know the guy much better than I could by just doing a few google searches on him. It sounds like he'd be a real PITA to work with, but still fun to talk to as he sounds like the type who wants to spill his guts out and let you know how smart he is...and he IS smart so I'd love to listen to him.

You are a real piece of garbage if you like the fact that this drug cheat believes he done nothing wrong and it is OK for him to continue coaching young folks.

If he didn't think he did anything wrong, why WOULDN'T he dope JC kids?

I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree about him, with the exception that we agree that he is a very knowledgeable coach.