Again...

1happygirl · #1 11-23-2011, 01:30 AM

Apologize if this has already been posted...
http://news.yahoo.com/cyclist-longo-...154120198.html

PARIS (AP) � Former Olympic champion Jeannie Longo was cleared of breaching anti-doping rules by the French Cycling Federation on Tuesday in an embarrassing reversal for the French Anti-Doping Agency.
The 53-year-old Longo had faced a ban from three months to two years, a sanction that would effectively have ended the career of one of France's favorite athletes. Now she has a chance to ride at the London Olympics if she qualifies.
Longo had faced a disciplinary hearing after the AFLD said she had three whereabouts violations. But she was cleared when one of those violations was considered invalid because she was no longer a member of the testing pool, which only lasts for one year.
"(Because) there is no infraction relative to the whereabouts requirements (of three failures in a period of 18 months), the national disciplinary commission therefore found that no violation of the anti-doping rules can be held against Jeannie Longo," the FFC said.
The AFLD, which can appeal the FFC's ruling, did not immediately comment. Calls to Longo's home went unanswered.
Longo's lawyer, Bruno Ravaz, praised the FFC's decision and criticized the AFLD.
"We're very, very happy. It's a decision that does justice to Jeannie Long," Ravaz told L'Equipe's website. "(She) was not questioning the importance of the fight against doping, but wanted to defend the right of athletes to be treated equally, with respect to the procedures."
Ravaz added that the AFLD has a "crushing" legal power over athletes and "it transpired that the AFLD did not even respect the procedures it has decreed."
Longo first competed at the Olympics in 1984 in Los Angeles, and she won the gold medal in the road race at the 1996 Atlanta Games. She has nine road world championship golds, claimed four titles at the world track championships and has been French champion 58 times.
Longo allegedly broke anti-doping rules requiring athletes to disclose where they can be located for testing twice in the past 18 months and a third time on June 20, while training in the United States.
Longo's attorney, Bruno Ravaz, said in September that a strike at French gas stations kept her from getting to where she was expected on one occasion. He said the second violation occurred when "the person in charge of administering the test couldn't find her father's chalet" in France.
"She received a third warning following a test that strangely happened on her last day in the United States just as she was coming back to France the following day to take part in a race," Ravaz said.
In an AP interview in February, Longo's response was ambiguous when asked whether doping might be part of her longevity in cycling. She explained that there are no level playing fields in sports "because we all do what we can to be better."

Seems suspicious all the French athletes cleared in time for the Olympics. Guess if they weren't cleared they wouldn't have any athletes for the Games that could win. Seems like they don't have a large delegation.

BumbleBeeDave · #2 11-23-2011, 05:29 AM

. . . if this had not been accompanied by the drug accusations against her husband/coach. That makes it just a bit too suggestive for me

People will do the wildest things to avoid admitting to themselves they are getting old. Witness any number of cosmetic procedures by Hollywood stars detailed on supermarket tabloid covers. While I totally admire Longo''s achievements, given all I've read about her personality, she also impresses me as one of those people who would go to just about any length to avoid conceding to age.

BBD

Seott-e · #3 11-23-2011, 06:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BumbleBeeDave

. . . if this had not been accompanied by the drug accusations against her husband/coach. That makes it just a bit too suggestive for me

People will do the wildest things to avoid admitting to themselves they are getting old. Witness any number of cosmetic procedures by Hollywood stars detailed on supermarket tabloid covers. While I totally admire Longo''s achievements, given all I've read about her personality, she also impresses me as one of those people who would go to just about any length to avoid conceding to age.

BBD

Why would or do you have to admit to getting old ? Just do everything you can until you can't !

harlond · #4 11-23-2011, 07:24 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 1happygirl

Seems suspicious all the French athletes cleared in time for the Olympics. Guess if they weren't cleared they wouldn't have any athletes for the Games that could win. Seems like they don't have a large delegation.

I think it's a matter for mild celebration when these organizations follow their own rules and suffer the consequences when they don't. She was supposed to be on their own list before they could charge her, she wasn't on the list, and they charged her anyway. Seems like the right result to me.

FlashUNC · #5 11-23-2011, 08:02 AM

Escaped through a loophole that's inexcusable it should exist in the first place.

Inner Ring has a pretty good analysis of the whole affair:

http://inrng.com/2011/11/jeannie-longo-acquitted/

oldpotatoe · #6 11-23-2011, 08:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Seott-e

Why would or do you have to admit to getting old ? Just do everything you can until you can't !

How old are you? Saying the above is easy when you are 'younger'.

Betty Davis-"gettin' old ain't for sissies'.

Paul Neuman-"time is the fire in which we all burn".

BumbleBeeDave · #7 11-23-2011, 08:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

How old are you? Saying the above is easy when you are 'younger'.

Betty Davis-"gettin' old ain't for sissies'.

Paul Neuman-"time is the fire in which we all burn".

"She was supposed to be on their own list before they could charge her, she wasn't on the list, and they charged her anyway."

I also thought this was interesting. They want her to follow their rules--but they don't want to have to follow them themselves! But Ciprelli's involvement in his own case still just leads to too much suspicion for me to let it go. Where there's smoke . . .

Proper PR response for Jeannie would be to announce she is gratified by the result, wants to be put back in the pool, and lets everybody know very publicly that she is willing to be tested as often as they like as long as they let her know where to be to do it. But again, given my previous knowledge of her, ah, personality, I doubt she is going to do that.

BBD

Vientomas · #8 11-23-2011, 08:58 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

How old are you? Saying the above is easy when you are 'younger'.

Betty Davis-"gettin' old ain't for sissies'.

Paul Neuman-"time is the fire in which we all burn".

The quote you attribute to Paul Newman was actually written by a poet named Delmore Schwartz in his poem "Calmly We Walk Through This April Day". The line is in the final stanza:

Each minute bursts in the burning room,
The great globe reels in the solar fire,
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)
What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

oldpotatoe · #9 11-23-2011, 09:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vientomas

The quote you attribute to Paul Newman was actually written by a poet named Delmore Schwartz in his poem "Calmly We Walk Through This April Day". The line is in the final stanza:

Each minute bursts in the burning room,
The great globe reels in the solar fire,
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)
What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

Excellent.

BumbleBeeDave · #10 11-23-2011, 09:11 AM

"Sex at age 90 is like trying to shoot pool with a rope."

--George Burns

Vientomas · #11 11-23-2011, 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by oldpotatoe

Excellent.

The second to last line: "Time is the school in which we learn" ain't half bad either.

1happygirl · #12 11-23-2011, 11:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BumbleBeeDave

. . . if this had not been accompanied by the drug accusations against her husband/coach. That makes it just a bit too suggestive for me

People will do the wildest things to avoid admitting to themselves they are getting old. Witness any number of cosmetic procedures by Hollywood stars detailed on supermarket tabloid covers. While I totally admire Longo''s achievements, given all I've read about her personality, she also impresses me as one of those people who would go to just about any length to avoid conceding to age.

BBD

Great analysis.This is the vibe I get from her but failed to articulate. Spot on again BBD

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vientomas

written by a poet named Delmore Schwartz in his poem "Calmly We Walk Through This April Day". The line is in the final stanza:

Each minute bursts in the burning room,
The great globe reels in the solar fire,
Spinning the trivial and unique away.
(How all things flash! How all things flare!)
What am I now that I was then?
May memory restore again and again
The smallest color of the smallest day:
Time is the school in which we learn,
Time is the fire in which we burn.

Awesome poem by person I didn't know about. Score another for the Forum in expanding & sharing knowledge. Thanks