Leah O'Conner posted about this on Instagram, something that an athlete should never have to do:
https://www.instagram.com/p/B4yMCMEF0FI/?igshid=1xjoqbbpd0t5b
How can we wring our hands at the IAAF for changes in the Diamond League if we can't support our athletes even at the most basic level?
Editor's note: Our response to this is simple. Leah is right that no one should have to read someone belittling them for their looks. We are sorry that she had to read it.
The reality is it's very hard to moderate nearly 10 million messageboard posts.
Unlike facebook and twitter, however, we provide a phone number -844-537-7786 - that you can call to reach a real person if you have a problem with a post. We also have a "report post" feature that automatically deletes posts if they are reported enough. The reality is the posts she is complaining about were all deleted.
We're always striving to do better on the moderation front and are looking into having the software automatically require registration when posting about a high school athlete and have recently required that in several HS threads we have seen.
That being said, we don't believe in pre-screening speech. We believe in free speech and also anonymity on the internet. If you don't allow that, then you basically have become China where you aren't free and only approved speech is accepted.
We are requiring registration for this thread from now on.
