It's a half-assed apology. She apologized but she diverted the blame to another mental condition that may or may not be true. I really don't care since it won't have any bearing to my life. But she jeapirdized another persons life and undermined months of hard training the other athlete did.

A real apology would be to drive to the victims house and beg for forgiveness. That's the only person she should be sorry to.

She is getting a lengthy ban otherwise.

Agreed

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"if you chose it, it's not really pain"

Glad she owned the mistake but this was not an impulsive decision.

An impulsive decision would be purchasing a bag of skittles at the checkout when you've just circled the store and filled your cart full of fruits and veggies.


She knew the bike belonged to another favorite and waited until the transition area cleared out.

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USAT Level II- Ironman U Certified Coach

A lot of you are saying this wasn't impulsive, but in order to come to that conclusion don't you have to assume premeditation? Totally plausible she scouted the competition, worked to be fit, and then doubted herself on race day and had a breakdown of sorts. For me, doubling down on her excuse initially and then this message to Herbert makes me believe that she isn't in good mental health and made very poor decisions even more than I did before.

And if you haven't ever experienced eating issues, they can really mess you up...on top of how bad of a mental state you have to be to even get there in the first place.



x whatever we are at now

You mean she "could have jeopardized ...". My understanding is that race officials repumped the tire and the other competitor was not hindered in any shape or form and had no idea anything had happened.

I agree with King Midas.

And if you want to correct him, it would be to say "she intentionally attempted to jeopardize..."

First we should determine if she is a witch...

Given her history that has been reported I sincerely doubt this act was "impulsive" and mental illness does not excuse a premeditated act. A good long suspension from triathlon is in order and just keep her in Canada for a while too. Can we find a way to blame her for Bieber as well?

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Fester from Detroit, Mi

I am not defending the perp and I have no problem with "intentionally attempted to jeopardize". However, it is important to be factually correct and not insinuate that the other competitor did end up racing on soft tires and had months of hard training ruined...didn't happen. Please see my earlier post in this thread standing by my call for a lifetime ban.

Glad to read she confessed and is seeking help to become a better person. Agree that she should still have to serve a penalty.

How about a 2 year suspension and 100 hours of volunteer services at races?

I agree. Her actions in Syracuse were disgusting but I respect that she is "woman enough" to stand up and say "I did it, it was stupid, and I have no excuse". That's better than all the drug cheats who claim a "supplement" was the source of their banned substance and make all these wild excuses

This is more along the lines I was thinking for the penalty. People murder and they are out in 4-5 years. Although this could have resulted in a serious injury, it is hardly on par with murder. As a person who has a history of mental illness, I know I have made poor decisions (although nothing as bizarre as this). If it wasn't for a loving, understanding wife who is always at my side to correct me, I would use bad judgement in alot of instances past, present and future. I am glad she has come clean and I give her credit for that. She should serve the appropriate penalty and when she is well both mentally and physically, I have no problem welcoming her back into the sport.

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Barry Dmitruk
2017: Florida 70.3 (done); Mont Tremblant 70.3 & Ironman

You don't know that she "intentionally attempted to jeopardize another person's life" and it's almost certain that she did not. The intent was most likely just to slow her down, not to harm her. In fact adding "intentionally attempted to" make the statement even more incorrect as it adds the notion of intent, that the initial statement, at least, did not have.

I'll see your 2 years and raise to 4:)

Kudos to her for admitting her mistake. It's a better tact than the OJ Simpson model of deny, deny, deny.

While I wish her well with her treatment, and hope that she lives a long healthy life as a productive member of Canadian (not American) society, I would not welcome her back to triathlon.

Actions have consequences. Strong examples need to be made. We can't all be looking over our shoulders in transition and worrying about this kind of crap. The FOP end of this sport already has a problem with cheaters that grab the scarce Kona slots and awards others deserve. I am sure her actions have made a few people think about similar things they could do if no one is watching.

This woman needs to stay away from organized triathlon. Doing so voluntarily would show some real character.

How's this: "She intentionally attempted to undermine months of hard training the other athlete did."

I agree that she had no intent to cause physical harm to the other athlete (although there is a small chance that her actions could have done that). But what she 100% had intent to do, was to undermine the other athlete's months of hard training and sacrifice. And when you think about the countless hours that you have to put into bike training to gain, say, 5 minutes on the bike in a 70.3, to have that ruined by a competitor deflating your tire pressure is really upsetting to think about.

This is outstanding and a great start to getting fixed. Interestingly, you can still see she hasn't taken 100% ownership of it being her own fault. That bolded line should read instead, "I created so much pressure on MYSELF to perform." Nobody was making her do triathlon. Worded as it is, the implication is still blame to forces outside herself and she's a victim, too.

Still, a thumbs up for moving in the right direction.

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Zen and the Art of Triathlon. Strava Workout Log
Interviews with Chris McCormack, Helle Frederikson, Angela Naeth, and many more.
http://www.zentriathlon.com

Being under pressure to perform means you do bad things purely related to yourself (doping, course cutting etc.) but doing something to another athlete has nothing to do with your own performance. Shame on her!

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Are you ready to do an Ultraman? | How I calculate Ironman race fueling | Strength Training for Athletes |

I'm very surprised that we're still falling for these fake apologies. I'm sorry but every time an athlete gets busted for wrongdoing the same happens. They deny, then wait a day of two, and once they see that there's too much proof against them, then issue a fake apology.

Not buying it. Sorry. This girl is not only a cheater but a danger for the sport itself and I have 0 sympathy for her. If Ironman started issuing lifetime bans, things would change in the sport very quickly.

Please see the "if" in my post.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Can you imagine all the stuff she's pulled in life/sport that she hasn't been caught doing??.Theft of $$ and deflating tires are likely only tip of iceberg. I teach HS and once and awhile a kid comes along who scares the crap out of me....in terms of utter lack of moral compass and character. They walk out of here after graduation and I almost shudder to think whats in store for an unsuspecting community from the likes of these people . Thankfully they are rare cases ((for the most part)

I agree with the if. But i don't agree with certainly she needs help. In my book what she needs is a good and lengthy ban. I'm starting to get a little tired of a society in which everyone is a victim of either a. somebody else, b. their own demons and need some kind of help. How about you cheated, you face consequences. Simple as that.

And regardless of the eating disorder or whatever she has (IF true), I still think that somebody needs to be made the example and both in the Pros or in AG somebody will have to be the first one to get the lifetime ban and then people will second guess themselves a bit when trying to pull off this kind of crap.

Agree, this may be the tip of the iceberg. Based on this I would probably show up and do an out of competition doping test just to see if there is anything else going on.

I find this behavior much more despicable than something like "Finman", yet it's amazing how much more hatred and vitriol Finman got as a BOPer than the # of comments on this thread.

They generally don't admit that they did it. Which she has done. What more do you want?


Unfortunately, some people ALWAYS want more . . and more . . and more. It never ends for them! :(

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

I'm curious what people think about the implied accusation cast in the original thread now that she apologized and said this was an impulsive decision?

A poster stated that his wife biked much slower than anticipated on an executed wattage plan when racing against Ms. Johnson. The obvious implication was that there might have been some foul play with tire pressure in that race as well. I'm not looking for her to lay out all her life-long transgressions but if this is not the first time she has done something like this she needs to be banned for life...no matter what her apology says.