I've thrown an elbow to stop a swimmer from swimming over me or to dissuade a swimmer from continuing to swim into me multiple times. I'm guessing elbowing someone in the head would hurt both swimmers. I've been the recipient of elbows and have been swum over. I've been kicked in the face by a swimmer after I tickled his/her feet multiple times. Physical contact like this happened routinely in tri swims I did over multiple decades where there were mass starts or large waves. It is likely not as common these days. All the tris I do now have time trial starts, maybe because of the mayhem that used to occur and was somewhat glorified.

Sincere congrats to you if you've always maintained your composure during competition.

well as my example showed, sometimes that swimmer bumping shoulders with you has someone the other side of them squeezing them into you. in my case both swimmers either side of me could have moved line slightly to give me some space. so yes, throwing an elbow in a race is a total douchebag move, because it would be v rare for another swimmer to be intentionally roughing you up. doing it many times? wow.

and thanks, yes, even when I was elbowed in the eye to the point of bleeding I kept my composure, stopped swimming for a moment and then carried on racing. ironically just before that race I had been discussing with someone how the color red can get you more fired up, and then there I was swimming with one goggle filling with blood.

I'm in no way excusing her behavior. Personally I'm in the lifetime ban camp.

However, I've heard anecdotally that extreme competitiveness is common with an eating disorder. Usually around food. People with eating disorders often love to cook then 'push' food on others, because part of the disorder feeds off the pleasure of seeing others eat while you have the willpower to resist.

Again, I don't have personal experience, but based on some stuff I've seen and read, I can see it all fitting together.

Both admissions take guts. I wish her a speedy recovery.

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<The Dew Abides>

Most patients in Canadian healthcare system wait weeks- months to get into facilities for treatment for addictions and other conditions. Yet she is able to accepted into a mental health facility the next day. Puzzling.

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They constantly try to escape from the darkness outside and within
Dreaming of systems so perfect that no one will need to be good T.S. Eliot

It's only a hobby....until Chrissie Wellington enters Ultraman Hawaii, then it's a full on real life smackdown LOL :-)

• Rob: OK, I have to lift my training game for Ultraman Kona
• Mrs. Rob: Go do the groceries and take the kids to swim lessons, and get the gardening done, service my car, take the trash out, finish building the unbuilt deck and that will take you till 10 pm and then you have a full 2 hours to do a fast 18 mile run before going to sleep. This UM thing is a hobby
• Rob: Yeah, I know, but Ms. Wellington just signed up. I think it would be uncool to be the wife of a hobbyist getting chic'd at Ultraman
• Mrs. Rob: WTF? You better not come back to this place till you beat Chrissie. Get out of here and go on the full pro plan and don't even dream of showing your face till you beat her
• Rob: This will be tough but if you force me into the full pro training plan I reluctantly accept. Can you convince my manager at work too???

I put my pitch fork down when Herbert posted this. Agree with you 100%

"Eating disorder " is likely synonymous for a bunch of other issues. As you say if you have ever had problems or know someone who has, then the first step is acknowledging them
And then seeking impartial and professional help. (Ie family and friends will stand by you and support you, but despite the best love and intentions they often end up enabling)

Not to diminish the act itself, I wish her the best.

Maurice,

Likely she is not going through public care, self funded or employer funded...you can get in. Even without a union there is a duty to accommodate under general employment law both federally and provincially.

Maurice

I hope that prediction comes true!

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

Which part? Ms. Wellington showing up at UM Kona, or your wife telling you get on the pro plan (in theory, she could tell you to get on the latter without the former, but I would suspect odds are low)!

she thinks I am on the dedicated tech corp plan, and my boss thinks I'm on the dedicated family plan. In the meantime I'm on the closet pro plan.
At least Ms Wellington making an appearance can help me out of the shadows

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

In the Air Force we used to call that the 9 Hangar plan. The guys in 5 hangar think you are 7 hangar, the guys in 7 think you are at 2, the guys in 2 think you are on front line service on the tarmac on the flight line and the guys on the tarmac think you are at 9 hangar. Of course 9 hanger team assume you are at 5 hangar. Meanwhile, you're on a 5 hour bike ride and planning to meet your girlfriend for lunch at the beach with just enough time to ride back and put on your coveralls and show up at the engine bay at 9 hangar. Fast forward multiple decades, the meeting of your "now wife" at lunch just gets in the way of cramming in an extra swim workout.

OK back to the tire deflation. Who is charged with guarding Chrissie's bike at T1 at Ultraman Kona? Lots of air could be removed during a 10K swim

You can consider all that extraneous stuff in judging her, but the race director/chief ref have no business looking at that in considering punishment. They only consider breaking race rules. As they should - we don't want refs playing morality police when applying race rules.

It is good that she apologized, far better than most who continue to deny, deny, deny despite conclusive evidence to the contrary.

She should still face severe penalties though. It was incredibly unsportsmanlike and dangerous and there has to be very severe consequences. The other reason is that she apologized now but if she hadn't been caught, would she have done the same?

We'll never know but either way, I hope she gets the help and she should move on with her life. Get treatment and find a new sport.

Yes. This!
She did admit it and apologize. Although most of us can't understand why and still feel anger and disbelief that someone would do this to another athlete all we can do is wish that she gets the help she needs. And I think that this is a wakeup call to everyone who competes that we can't just assume everyone is ethical and plays by the same rules we do.
It must have been so very embarrassing to admit this and so humbling. At least she was a big enough person to do this.

You can wish her well but still recognize the BS of deflecting her issues by introducing the eating disorder to the conversation. As others have pointed out - this confession is insincere and narcissistic.

It because she just said, "100 bucks says you can't beat me on the bike LOL" (pink).

Cmon guys & girls. This is by no means the first time she has done this. She's been a cheater. She's cheated before and not been caught til now. Look at her past. Her being brave would be owning ALL of the things she has done in the past.

I am no expert, but when does an eating disorder become a cheating disorder. Ban her for life.

my personal uncensored view as a 40 something female...

Blaming your "moment of bad judgement" *letting the air out of a fellow competitors tires moments before a race thereby compromising her performance and safety* on an eating disorder is bizarre cowardly and manipulative. As a 40 something female who has had enough of my broad AG looking moral degenerates i say lifetime ban dammit.


my fluffier more politic version...

I am here to support women as they endeavor to stretch themselves, potentially fail, make fools of themselves, succeed way way past what they ever thought possible. ALL of these things. This all of this. I adore Ironman. It is bizarre, beautiful, hideous, frightening as hell and magical all at the same time. The harder you work the more you are rewarded simple equation.
What I find intolerable is dishonesty. Honest effort is the most beautiful thing ever slow or fast if it is an honest effort it deserves to be applauded and supported and given a cold congratulatory margarita and a pat on the ass.
However, as 97.89& percent of us (or at least I naively hope) are grinding out the hours and the work and the sweat and the chafe, saddle sores and the time sleeping in to train some are cheating. I gotta tell you whether its course cutting, doping, using a bib mule or more recently at 70.3 Syracuse letting the air out of a competitors tires moments before a race I say it is intolerable. Completely 100% intolerable. I love this sport so very much and am ashamed in the past year at what several women in their 40s have done to win. Its disgusting and deserves no place in Ironman. It degrades and belittles all the work all the hours all the YEARS I, we, you, all of us, put in to have a moment of grace while racing.
Cheaters Dopers Course Cutters all suck. Lifetime Ban.

Having just finished up jury duty for a guy we found guilty of multiple serious felonies, where we recommended a combined sentence of almost 100 years, I think an attempted murder charge for deflating a bike tire is absolutely ridiculous.

I don't get this. Yeah, she's apparently not a very good person, which suddenly everyone has decided it incredibly important to reveal publicly. But I've never - in any sport - heard of life life history being used as a factor in referee-decided discipline for violating a rule of competition.

I haven't read all the posts, but from what I can tell there's one proven incident of race misconduct. So that's the only thing to be considered by WTC/USAT as far as I'm concerned. She gets the same penalty that baby Jesus would have for deflating a tire. Whatever that is.

Eating dis-order is the least of their problems. Lack of any moral compass is way higher on the list.
To do that Is simply pathetic.
And while they appear to be sorry, the simple statement "I'm not a horrible person" in the face of the evidence that they ARE that person, shows they are still clinging onto the illusion of decency. It just gets worse and worse.
Clearly they need help, but that doesn't excuse them from deserving of some sort of appropriate punishment. There is no benefit to us or them, to allow them to compete in our sport for some amount of time. They need a ban for X period.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

To admit before being accused is good. To admit and apologize only after being caught is not nearly so good.

To cheat in any form, is to admit even before the gun goes off, that you are a loser.

While I've never won a tri or anything else, I lose because I do my best, but my best isn't the best. I'm mature enough to accept that, and reap the benefits of doing my best. I lose the race, but I'll never be a loser

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

Just to be clear, you don't know me (or most of the people on ST) so don't begin to say what any or all of us might do during races. I for one don't and never have done any of the things you mention, or anything remotely similar.

In tri's I routinely got ribbed by buddies for not taking opportunities to go faster, by engaging in rule pushing actions. In fact in one local 1/2 IM, some of the race is multiple laps with some single track. Faster athletes on lap2 will pass me. Too many times to count, I've pulled over, stopped and let lines of competitors go by. I could hold them up or force them into the weeds, but that's not cool so I stop. I'm out there so long, a couple of extra minutes is of no real concern. In general life my wife routinely gives me grief for doing things that benefit others, at cost to me/us.

Don't include me with the likes of yourself, grabbing ankles and drafting when marshals aren't around. We're not all like that. And only low life losers would deflate someone's tires before a race.

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TriDork

"Happiness is a myth. All you can hope for is to get laid once in a while, drunk once in a while and to eat chocolate every day"

bingo. #banthatbitch? is that kosher around here?

she's sorry, she can't believe, she is checking herself into "help" because she got caught. had she not gotten caught, she would have done this again because she beat the person she flatted, which would have validated her actions in her "help required" mind.

john