thatzone wrote:
Honestly my respect for Sebastian Keinle went up after he left this 'team'. I wonder if this 'team' has their own 'doctors'? Anyone know?
there isn't anyone's opinion on this subject i abjectly disagree with. look at the arab middle east and you find some really oppressive behavior toward women and protesters. then there's western democracies, which have their warts, but are generally the model for how protesters and women's rights are respected.
and then you have the prince, and his country, straddling both, having to deal with very hard liners. when i talk to women who've trained raced there it's pretty western in terms of what you can do (riding and running around in our outfits). there's plenty to criticize, such as the bahrain 13, opposition leaders, google them. so, bahrain
endurance 13. a coincidence? that stretches credulity.
i'll go to kona, i'll see them, i have got some contacts with whom i've developed warm relationships in and around that team (and i mean bahraini adminstrators, not the athletes). i'll continue to learn what i can.
just, if you specifically choose this country and this prince to come down on hard, okay. i get it. i don't blame you. if you want to boycott this team, its athletes, the country, what it stands for, no argument. but, if you boycott other countries with similar human and civil rights histories, you'll find it very hard to swim, bike or run if you want clothes, shoes and bikes, and you won't be doing ironman races.
hence the boycott versus engagement approaches and if this country, and this team, is a lever wedging western sensibilities into the middle east monarchies, that's a good thing.
i've got no wisdom for anybody, except the more i dig into this the harder it is to feel like i have a solid foundation on which to expostulate. just, before you start lecturing me, realize that i probably already know every fact you're going to give me.
Dan Empfield
aka Slowman