Rossi cheat wrote:
Just an update. I emailed the Lehigh race director yesterday, and she said that they anticipate wrapping up the investigation by the end of May. Sounds like they are taking it more seriously now and not just passing it off to USATF. I do wonder if they have all the evidence spreadsheets from LetsRun, SaraB etc
excerpt...."we are in the process of interviewing more than 100 runners, including Mr. Rossi. A five-person panel of community leaders who are also marathon runners will review the evidence and make a recommendation on what action the race committee should take. We expect to conclude the review by the end of May."
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so the Race director has delegated her "discretion" to a panel of 5 marathon community leaders
CON MR:
1. athlinks PRs inconsistent with progression to 3:11
2. lack of photos inconsistent with 3:11
3. social media behavior inconsistent with BQ achievement (shoulda touted)
PRO MR:
1. appears in finish photo and video
2. can argue his personality etc. is irrelevant to decision
3. can argue should be a high standard to DQ a finisher almost 8 months after the fact (e.g. hey I would have saved data from my GPS etc.)
4. 8 months after fact, other runners are not going to be able to say with certainty they did or did not see him, but only do not remember seeing him
at the end of the day, I think they are going to say an investigation 8 months after the fact will not result in a DQ unless clear and convincing evidence of cheating is available
so it will all boil down to: is the lack of appearance in photos clear and convincing evidence for the 5 person panel?
I think he walks