The 2013 Triathlon Business International Conference (previously Triathlon America) kicked off Sunday as a collection of triathlon industry event promoters, sponsors and athletes congregated in inland San Diego for three days of discussions of items pertinent to the sport. Several speakers? from Cervelo co-founder Phil White to Ironman champion Andy Potts to Olympic swim legend Gary Hall Jr. were assembled for the event, drawing crowds from across the country to discuss topics from event insurance to event promotion, use of social media to timing, as well as providing an opportunity to network outside typical industry events like Interbike.
But one of the most interesting panel talks was on a hot topic: doping. And while it didn?t solve the world?s problems, it did serve as an opportunity to remind those in triathlon that it?s not a little fun swim/bike/run diversion anymore. As an Olympic sport, doping is a concern, for both the pro and age group field. Triathlon Business International assembled 1997 Hawaii Ironman winner Michellie Jones, Rev3 Triathlon race director Charlie Patten and cycling journalist and photographer Mark Johnson
Moderator Mike Reilly opened the discussion, and as the man who calls so many athletes across the finish line of Ironman events around the world, he has a genuine pulse on the sport.
?A lot is at stake, and I hear from them all; how bad they want to qualify for Hawaii. How bad they want to go to Australia and perform well in their age group? Reilly said.
A solution for Jones is simple: make the slap on the hand hurt more. ?If we had bigger penalties, it would deter a lot of athletes,? she said. She also recognizes that it?s a double-edged sword, with instances like the inadvertent positive?and ensuing penalty?that Australian Ironman pro Rebekah Keat paid for a positive due to banned substances found in her then-sponsor?s product. While the brush stroke is broad, there are exceptions. Unfortunately, those innocent still get the label of being a cheat.
?What would happen if I tested positive, and I never took drugs,? Jones said. ?How do you defend yourself? There have been a few cases where that?s been the case, but so many said I never did it?but they end up saying they did.?
A subject brought up within the talk was who is responsible for testing athletes, pro and age group alike. At the current, it falls largely on event directors. And while many queried how many times Lance Armstrong was actually tested during his time racing last year (World Triathlon Corporation CEO Andrew Messick told attendants that Armstrong was part of both WTC?s and USADA?s testing pool, and was tested six times at his events?two of those test coming out of competition), Rev3?s Patten said the cost and responsibility of testing can?t fall exclusively upon the event director.
?We?ve taken some heat recently,? Patten said about his not having drug testing at all of his series events. ?I?ve gone down the road that we need to take this seriously. I?ll be honest, this path has opened my eyes to what?s going on. I think I?m convinced, that maybe event directors aren?t the ones that should be doing the testing. It should not funded by WTC, or Rev3. And there certainly needs to be more out-of-competiton testing. I would love to be part of a solution, but why should I have to take this on? We have a governing body, and eight percent of our athletes raced in the Olympics?but they?re not subject to the same testing. There?s a big disconnect. I just don?t think we should be doing our own program?but we should be part of a solution.?
Patten did add that the pros have to show true initiative in being a part of the solution as well. ?In all my races last year, I didn?t have one pro come up and ask what our testing protocol is. It?s their livelihood. Race directors need to step up, but pros do as well.?
However, Johnson said it?s key to ensure that triathon doesn?t follow the path of the UCI, which not only does event production but also initiates and administers its own drug testing program. ?Testing and event organizing? That?s a huge conflict of interest,? he says. ?Having an independent agency is essential.?
Johnson, who travels extensively as an embedded journalist with the Garmin/Barracuda Cycling Team, points out that triathlon does have one edge on fighting the doping battle that cycling in Europe, with a federation doesn?t: a young history.
?The sport is so young that it can forge a culture unlike cycling,? Johnson said. ?Lance shows us that it doesn?t work. We are gonna create a different culture. It?s going to be hard, because as a culture, look at ads for Viagra; Americans love performance- and image-enhancing drugs. It?s so hard to separate.?
Patten concurred. ?It?s a huge opportunity, to surpass that image of doping in triathlon.?not to just have a clean image, but to be clean.?
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