Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Now we have something / quite-a-lot to discuss and celebrate.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Why :?:
At this level of sport is it that hard.


Two incidents were not disputed, one was blamed on testers not looking hard enough to find her.

So after a disputed test failure appearance (which was overturned recently, testers above) she then allowed two incidents which she did not dispute, which could have led to a two year ban..........................
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Spinners
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by Spinners »

I'd put money on Armistead being totally clean but I do feel we'd all be up in arms if it was Johnny (Jane) Foreigner who'd missed three tests and got off under a procedural technicality.

Anyway, good luck to her and let's hope she can kickstart our Olympics this Sunday in just the way that Nicole Cook fabulously did in 2008!!

Go Lizzie!!!
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AlaninWales
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by AlaninWales »

http://forum.cyclinguk.org/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=88988&start=105#p1037541

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/olympics/36948193

the first came at a World Cup event in Sweden on 20 August, 2015, the second was an administrative failure on 5 October and the third was a missed test on 9 June this year following "an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family".

"an administrative failure": Someone (Armistead? Someone else? we don't know) failed to follow process. She only needed to successfully contradict one incident, "did not dispute the second two faults" is not the same as agreeing to be at fault.

Armitstead
successfully appealed to Cas over the first missed test, which happened at a team hotel in Sweden.
she seems to have been where she was supposed to be but
Cas ruled that the Ukad doping control officer had not followed required procedures nor made reasonable attempts to locate Armitstead
.

Finally
Cas also ruled that there was no negligence on Armitstead's part and that she had followed procedures according to the guidelines.


I'm sure there must be guidelines and procedures to be followed in the case of "an emergency change of plans due to a serious illness within her family" too. Seems like the hearing exonerated her. What is there to beef about?
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TrevA
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by TrevA »

Her name is Lizzie Armitstead, not Armistead.

It seems that British Cycling appointed someone to help her with her admin of the whereabouts system, but this person then left BC and nobody bothered to tell her.
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by matt_twam_asi »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Why :?:


Dunno. Why don't you ask her? It's certain no-one on here will know for sure.
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by freeflow »

She presents quite a transparent and cogent explanation on her Facebook page

I am writing this statement in my own words, something I have wanted to do from the very beginning. Understandably people have questions which I want to answer as openly and honest as I can. I hope people understand that speaking with journalists is a necessary part of my job, speaking directly to the public in a statement like this, which has not been ghost written or moulded by somebody else is un heard of. I want to take responsibility for this message, this is my life and not a game of headlines. I want to state the facts but also try to explain my situation further. I believe I owe this statement to sports fans, people who love sport like I do.
As an 18 year old school girl I was introduced to the whereabouts system. 9 years ago. Since then the system has evolved and developed, post October 2015 I recognised this and requested further education from UKAD, I will come back to this later.
By submitting my whereabouts I am consenting to people coming into my house or hotel and taking blood and urine samples. This is a part of my sport that I accept and whole heartedly support.
To add some background before I explain the specific details of my 3 'strikes'.
I have been tested 16 times in 2016.
I have a clear and valid blood passport (a more detailed use of looking for doping violations by looking for trends vs anomalies in my blood values)
I have been tested after every victory this season.
I am on the road for around 250 days a year, with around 60 race days.
I have never tested positive for a banned substance.
I have never taken a band substance.
I will present the facts of my 3 'strikes'
Sweden 20th August 2015
UKAD are allowed a maximum of 2 weeks to inform you of a 'strike'. When I received the letter from UKAD I immediately contested it with a written explanation, this was not accepted on the eve of me travelling to America for my world championships. I had no legal advise or external support at the time.
Last week:
CAS ruled quickly and unanimously in my favour and cleared me of any wrong doing, because:
I was at the hotel I stated.
The DCO didn't do what was reasonable or necessary to find me.
I was tested the next day, this test was negative.
Calling an athletes mobile phone is not a method approved by UKAD to try and locate an athlete, as such it is not an argument against me that I slept with my phone on silent in order not to disturb a room mate.
Put simply I was available and willing to provide a sample for UKAD.
2nd 'strike' October 2015
Despite being reported as a 'missed test' this was in fact a 'filing failure'
UKAD did not try to test me, instead this was an administrative spot check. They found an inconsistency between an overnight accommodation and a morning time slot.
A busy post world championship period meant I had no firm plans and as such was changing address and plans very quickly. I made a mistake. This was an honest mistake rather than trying to deceive anybody. A mistake that many athletes who are honest with themselves will admit to having made themselves. I was Tested by UKAD later that week and produced a negative result.
In December 2015 I met with UKAD and British cycling to discuss a support plan in order to avoid a 3rd potential 'strike'
Simon Thornton from British Cycling was put in place to check my whereabouts on a bi weekly basis. We had regular contact and he would help me with any problems, effectively he was a fail safe mechanism. Since meeting with UKAD my whereabouts updates have been as detailed and specific as they can possibly be. Going as far as I can in describing my locations to avoid any further issues.
Unfortunately this system fell apart on the 9th of June when UKAD tried to test me in my hour slot and I was not where I had stated I would be. Simon Thornton had left BC 3 weeks prior to my strike without anybody informing me. We worked under a policy of 'no news was good news' as outlined in my support plan with UKAD. If Simon was still in place the following oversight could have been prevented. My over night accommodation ( the bed in which I was sleeping the morning of the test) was correct, but I had failed to change the one hour testing slot, it was clearly impossible to be in both locations.
This is where I believe I have the right to privacy. My personal family circumstances at the time of the test were incredibly difficult, the medical evidence provided in my case was not contested by UKAD, they accepted the circumstances I was in. UKAD did not perceive my situation to be 'extreme' enough to alleviate me of a negligence charge. A physiatrist assessment of my state of mind at the time was contrary. In my defence I was dealing with a traumatic time and i forgot to change a box on a form. I am not a robot, I am a member of a family, my commitment to them comes over and above my commitment to cycling. This will not change and as a result I will not discuss this further, our suffering does not need to be part of a public trial. I hope I have made it clear that family comes before cycling, I am not obsessively driven to success in cycling, I love my sport, but I would never cheat for it.
To conclude:
I currently have 1 filing failure and 1 missed test.
The reason this hasn't been discussed publicly until now is because I had the right to a fair trial at CAS, it is clear sensationalised headlines have a detrimental effect to any legal case.
In the days following the revelations in the press my family and I have been the victim of some incredibly painful comments. I ask people to take a moment to put themselves in my shoes, I am an athlete trying to do my best, I am a clean athlete. I am the female road race world champion, I operate in a completely different environment to the majority of athletes in the testing pool. I am self coached, I work outside British cycling and its systems, I race for a women's team that doesn't have a budget to match a world tour men's team who have staff specifically in place to supports riders with whereabouts. I don't wish to make excuses, i made one mistake which was noticed in a 'spot check' my second strike came at a time when anybody who lives for and loves their family would understand my oversight. It's as simple as ticking the wrong box on a form.
I love sport and the values it represents, it hurts me to consider anybody questioning my performances. Integrity is something I strive for in every part of my life. I will hold my head high in Rio and do my best for Great Britain, I am sorry for causing anyone to lose faith in sport, I am an example of what hard work and dedication can achieve. I hate dopers and what they have done to sport.
To any of the 'Twitter army' reading this, do yourself a favour and go for a bike ride. It's the most beautiful thing you can do to clear your mind.
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
I cant add anything to that other than to say things are much clearer to everyone now.

I think that the testers have to be vigilant due to the history in sports especially cycling of abuse.


Lizzie maybe should consider some help, BUT as far as I can tell money is the crutch..........................
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by mjr »

freeflow wrote:She presents quite a transparent and cogent explanation on her Facebook page
[...]
Sweden 20th August 2015
UKAD are allowed a maximum of 2 weeks to inform you of a 'strike'. When I received the letter from UKAD I immediately contested it with a written explanation, this was not accepted on the eve of me travelling to America for my world championships. I had no legal advise or external support at the time[...]

That disagrees with UKAD:
http://www.ukad.org.uk/news/article/UKAD-Statement-on-CAS-Hearing-Against-Elizabeth-Armitstead wrote:Ms Armitstead chose not to challenge the first and second Whereabouts Failures at the time they were asserted against her.

I wonder whether UKAD disregarded LA's challenge for some bureaucratic reason like it not being filed on the correct form. There's probably going to be more about this, so I hope CAS will publish the decision promptly rather than let it drag on. As noted on http://inrng.com/2016/08/armitstead-whe ... h-cycling/, relying on "never tested positive" puts an athlete in some very poor company.
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by kylecycler »

mjr wrote:As noted on http://inrng.com/2016/08/armitstead-whe ... h-cycling/, relying on "never tested positive" puts an athlete in some very poor company.

She kind of walked into that one; what she should have written was "I have never taken a banned substance and have therefore never tested positive," although even using the phrase "never tested positive" is subject to innuendo now, but I think when you're innocent you're not always devious enough to appear so - the guilty are better at that, they get more practice.

Personally I suspect she's just another innocent athlete who's having to suffer for the cheats - it's like collateral damage.
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by NUKe »

Spinners wrote:I'd put money on Armistead being totally clean but I do feel we'd all be up in arms if it was Johnny (Jane) Foreigner who'd missed three tests and got off under a procedural technicality.

Anyway, good luck to her and let's hope she can kickstart our Olympics this Sunday in just the way that Nicole Cook fabulously did in 2008!!

Go Lizzie!!!

I hope so. I'd have put money on Lance being clean, for years how wrong I was
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by Paulatic »

NUKe wrote:
Spinners wrote:I'd put money on Armistead being totally clean but I do feel we'd all be up in arms if it was Johnny (Jane) Foreigner who'd missed three tests and got off under a procedural technicality.

Anyway, good luck to her and let's hope she can kickstart our Olympics this Sunday in just the way that Nicole Cook fabulously did in 2008!!

Go Lizzie!!!

I hope so. I'd have put money on Lance being clean, for years how wrong I was


That's exactly how I feel Since Lancegate. Nicole Cookes little statement today doesn't help her case either. It's a real shame because I think even if Lizzie wins now there is always going to be doubt in the air.
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by reohn2 »

The Lance Armstrong sickness casts a long shadow.

I sincerely hope Armitstead is innocent,and I'm inclined to think she is.
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Re: Armistead missed three drugs tests.

Post by Spinners »

Paulatic wrote:
Nicole Cookes little statement today doesn't help her case either.



Neither does it put the boot in either.
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Re: Armitstead missed three drugs tests.

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
She said in BBC interview, along the lines, my family came first, about the third test.
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