Craig Engels fires back at Simpson: "Jenny is just brutal... when she gets in front of a camera she gets on a high horse."

"Where we are today, it's a physical test, not a chemistry lab, so you take the joy out of seeing who's the best when you cheat" - Jenny

Well just cause you're using chemistry doesn't mean you're a cheater. Anyone is allowed to use the grey area. Even taking an iron supplement can be considered "chemistry". WADA has their banned substances and that's what it is.

"There's a difference between having a cloud of suspicion and a conviction... if it [USADA's ban] reaches that point, I trust they [USADA] made it with an incredible amount of evidence." - Jenny

So what, if she ate tainted beef and USADA convicts her, she's just going to respect their decision and call herself a cheater? An incredible amount of evidence? This whole case if based off questionable practices and no hard evidence. The conviction and how ever the appeal turns out is very subjective, from both sides, and will probably come down to who has the best lawyers. Nike vs USADA, I'd like to see how that one turns out. USATF will have a field day with this one. Who just signed a 20 year contract with them again?

Just remember, we're talking about this guy, who thought nothing of casually and with forethought throwing the coach and program that originally recruited him under the bus:

https://www.letsrun.com/forum/flat_read.php?thread=9551200

Look past the kitschy stache and mullet, to me he comes off as a typical Ole Miss grad with nothing substantial to say. Despite what the clickbait meisters find delight in.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

Does nobody else who watched that video see many key cues in his body language? Shrugs and so many eye shifts: looks down in the middle of giving response, long blinks, puts his hand over his eyes, etc. All the appearance of someone trying to hide something.

Nice work Detective. Although maybe he is uncomfortable because he knows he is going to get a ton of backlash?

He has every right to acknowledge the fact that Jenny does not have any inkling if he and his teammates are personally cheating and is using her popularity to negatively affect how others views on them.

The doping cheater Engels needs to shut his pie hole.

Anyone who says he’s a cheater should link us to their social media and KTS for us on a live stream

the mental gymnastics that NOP lovers will go to is amazing. Salazar literally got a ban due to some completely insane testosterone experiment, and you are still out here fawning over him. You can read the report for why. I'm sorry if you personally in your heart don't think he deserved one. Or that you think a grey area exists. You are not at liberty to judge. USADA has determined that these are the rules for the sport, not some fanboys.

How to spot a Nike staffer adding comments to this thread..

"I used to be a Jenny fan but blah blah blah not I don't like her". Same post over and over, just change the blah blah to random musings.

Whiskey Tango Foxtrot wrote:

Does nobody else who watched that video see many key cues in his body language? Shrugs and so many eye shifts: looks down in the middle of giving response, long blinks, puts his hand over his eyes, etc. All the appearance of someone trying to hide something.

He just ran a race. Ever heard of sweat in your eyes? Jenny literally does the exact same. Nothing different about their body languages.

FRL wrote:

He has every right to acknowledge the fact that Jenny does not have any inkling if he and his teammates are personally cheating and is using her popularity to negatively affect how others views on them.

Then cry me a river, Craig and NOPers. I get that nobody was going to give him a better opportunity, financially, coming out of college. Yet if he and others were profoundly incurious about the reputation of the company they keep then reputation by proxy is just desserts. Jenny's simply saying what a multitude in the sport were already thinking, her popularity does little to amplify it. It's not like this went on CNN or ESPN, these videos are posted to Letsrun and Flotrack, a couple of niche fan-based media sites.

Oh jenny wrote:

I’ve been a Simpson fan since college but she is actually starting to get annoying. Loved the interview. Craig is awesome!! Keep it up!

Uh oh, the meek little female voiced her opinion!!

Definitely disagree, he looks up and down often and Jenny primarily scans to different reporters.

Look what you’ve started Wejo.

My gooodness.

Jenny's a legend of the sport in the twilight of her career. I think she has enough credibility and experience to say precisely and publicly how she interprets this whole situation. It's hugely refreshing to see an athlete (especially the veteran that she is) make a public, definitive statement, even if it comes across as a little harsh, not the usual weaselly, canned, cookie-cutter BS ("I believe in clean sport, and I believe whoever is guilty should be met with justice..."). Too safe, too general, too PR-ready.

That said, I also appreciated Craig's entertainingly direct comments. I think Jenny's in the right, but I also refreshing to see an NOP athlete address it directly instead of playing safe or dumb like Brazier did (I don't believe for a second he didn't know Salazar was under investigation).

Keep the quality content coming!

I love that both gave their takes honestly.

People have different views and it's great to hear them.

No coach speak with these two.

Good for the sport.

He's so cute, did he think she was going to confront him with hard questions about NOP's reputation over breakfast? Craig, you finally made a real national team, right now just laser-in on simply making the final. Don't be the clown who blew his first big opportunity and watches the final from the stands.

I actually really appreciate that Jenny Simpson is speaking with such conviction and clarity about how she feels about this situation. She's not afraid the questions and isn't giving canned responses. This all makes me a bigger fan.

I mean, Engels is a great personality and all but he's a bit of a good time, fun guy. Hard to take him too seriously.

Old Man by the Sea wrote:

I love that both gave their takes honestly.

People have different views and it's great to hear them.

No coach speak with these two.

Good for the sport.

I disagree, respectfully. It is not good for the sport. It is not good for the athletes either. With all these athletes just going off on the controversy (and they are no question entitled to their own opinions) it diverts attention from what truly matters, i.e. the athletic performances. By constantly prattling on about doping, it is creating the default position that any and all performances are tainted. That is not what the sport needs.

With respect to the athletes mouthing off, some fans will approve but a great many will be put off. Ultimately, athletes are in the business of being popular, and it doesn’t serve them well to put off a great many number of people whether their opinions are right or wrong. They run the risk of being too controversial or too whiny or too flaky or whatever. Michael Jordan took great pains to remain as uncontroversial as possible.

Athletes’ agents can serve as their mouthpieces and take the PR hits while insulating their clients from negative repercussions.

It seemed to me that Jenny hadn't read the decision. I don't blame her, she's in the middle of the most important meet of world championships, but it didn't seem like she really knew what the ruling was.

Based on the report, I think that the whole "the fact that anyone would ever associate with their group is beyond me" attitude isn't justified--none of the facts had anything to do with Julian, and the emails seemed to confirm what we all thought: that Salazar really favored Rupp over the other athletes. If anyone was actually on a banned substance, it was only Rupp, as Salazar doesn't seem to have shared any of that info with Magness, Ritz, Goucher, et al.

Jenny moved the goalposts in the follow-up, too, saying she was only talking about Salazar, not individual athletes. But she specifically made the comments about anyone training with NOP being a dolt and under a cloud of suspicion, so the idea that she didn't do anything to offend athletes in the NOP orbit is a little silly.

My take: she could never stand Rowbury being competitive with her (when she lost to Rowbury a few years ago, she made that comment about it not being a rivalry because she won the large majority of the time), and can't stand the fact that Rowbury sat on her and then got the AR, and nothing would make Jenny happier than thinking that Rowbury doped. She was trying to make a dig at Rowbury and didn't want it to seem targeted so she made it broad.

I hate to be the one to say it, but those who pile on the most have many times turned out to be the most guilty. And you LR brothers may in the end be right about Salazar. It’s not clearcut like you suggest. And Paula Radcliffe piled on and to me seems to be the most apparent undetected drug cheat after Lance was caught. Jenny? Never say never. I am not impressed, but free speech and all, and Craig returned the favor. And then she did the same. But yes, she was on a high horse.