#145: Let me try to explain the 'corruption' scandal
Real slow.
issue #145: July 23, 2025
We’ve got a whole bunch of things today — and this might be the most full-on Kelly newsletter in awhile. (Like sometimes I tone it down for you all, not today!) And, yes, there was a typo in the subject line of last week’s email, but you can’t fix it once it goes out, so that’s a shame. On the upside, it made you look.
I will also say we talk about a bunch of these topics on this upcoming Friday’s Feisty Tri podcast with Ruth Astle. Who agrees with me on quite a few points.
- Kelly
Lessons from Lake Placid
I saw someone ask which performance was more impressive: Dr. Matt’s win or Solveig’s? And, like, look objectively the answer is Solveig’s. She broke the course record there — which was no joke, Sarah True had it before — by 17 MINUTES. And as much as Dr. Matt is one of my mom’s favorites, and he’s very good and a lovely human, Solveig has also clearly established herself as a top tier world champs contender now in just her second Ironman ever (though Kona will be very different conditions). So, come on, don’t ask stupid questions.
I’d also like to point out the only women’s run faster than her 2:46 — and it is a not fast course at Placid — was Tamara Jewett’s 2:40 (which was only 13 seconds slower than Dr. Matt ran and so would have been nice to see some of on the broadcast but whatareyagonnado).
My understanding is the top four in both the men’s and women’s races broke the previous course records?
We also really shouldn’t have pro men mixing in with the front of the women’s field…
Dr. Matt is going to have to figure out his cramping out of the swim issue eventually. Obviously, it didn’t hold him back here or in Cairns, but will at a world level — so fingers crossed for him.
And I adored Trevor Foley going out of T2 at try-or-die speed down that first hill. It turned out to be almost die, but sometimes you have to try.
Overall, very very rainy (which 1000% messes with your ability to fuel and stay warm, in my experience at Placid). And lots of solid debuts (Jason West, Holly Lawrence). And the women’s spots rolled deep — like we mentioned they would last week — not because “omg anyone can get a spot,” as it sounds like some of the attitude was, but because so many of the best women are racing so frequently now. If I wanted to, I could reframe that in a way that makes it sound like the only reason the spots didn’t roll deep in the men’s field is because there were a bunch of men who weren’t good enough to have a spot already. I’m not saying I would say that, I’m just saying I could because it’s all in how you look at it.
Is Anne Haug’s retirement announcement the most German announcement ever
Ahhhh, speaking of contenders.
Anne Haug has finally come out to explain her DNF at IM Vitoria. And her explanation is: She’s retiring.
If you read the interview she gave in Germany about it (and maybe something is lost in translation) she basically says that once she didn’t have it mentally anymore, she had promised herself she would quit the sport. If she quit a race, then it was all over because she was done and there was no going back.
Which is, in some ways, brutal. And also probably one of many reasons I was never going to be a world champion or world record holder.
Race Ranger data is public….now what?
And. I still feel deeply ambivalent about this, but here it is, it’s out there, you can pour through the Roth Race Ranger data if you want.
The reason I feel ambivalent is because everyone keeps saying it’ll make the sport fairer and all I can think is: How?
The only end result of making data public is that people can then publicly have opinions about which athletes did or didn’t draft, and how much. Which, OK, sure. But those opinions may or may not be accurate — there’s a whole bunch of stuff about how the data can show zones or areas where it might pick up riders being lapped or accordion-ing on turns or a whole bunch of other circumstances — and even if those opinions are accurate, what’s the end goal? Draft policing via Slowtwitch forum? Public shaming? How does that make racing fairer? By deterring potential drafters through the use of internet pile-ons? As far as I can tell leaving policing to the internet hasn’t gone great so far, generally speaking.
In which I try to explain the World Tri scandal as simply as possible
Lastly. Some background to start.
tl;dr: Last World Tri election, in the fall, this one presidential candidate (or at least his representative. allegedly.) (who was kinda the pre-ordained pick of the previous President, I think) basically went around and told the other candidates “drop out and support me and I’ll make you a VP.” They also then told everyone: Here’s who we would like you to vote for — and wrote it down on a list, which some less smart World Tri reps physically printed up (?) and took with them to the vote.
A couple of those candidates didn’t take the deal. And one of them instead filed a complaint. She had WhatsApp messages and stuff documenting all of this — you can read them in this long-ish explanation of the whole thing.
And then there were complaints filed and counter-complaints. And this week the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the one guy who orchestrated all this should get a warning. (It was originally going to be a suspension.)
It’s all definitely shady, but also not that shady, because here are my questions about the whole thing:
It’s not illegal to tell people who you want them to vote for. That’s literally what election slates are. The Republican Party can be like: Here’s our endorsed slate of candidates. Hell, I could make a Kelly Thinks You Should Vote For These People Or She’ll Be Upset slate or coalition. (Of course, this is why votes shouldn’t be public, because then people can vote the slate or not, up to them.)
It’s also not illegal to change out committees and VPs once you come into power. That’s kinda standard, based on what you want to do/happen/priorities/etc.
It’s also not illegal to make coalitions or groups in an election or organization.
Obviously, there comes a point where a line is crossed, if it’s explicitly quid pro quo for votes, or if you clear out all the competent people and all the people in non-political roles, or if you threaten, and so on.
But. I keep thinking: Well if the other candidates didn’t want to drop out and take the deal for vice president, then they could have instead formed their own coalition. They could have fielded a counter Presidential candidate and gone around and told everyone ‘look, we’ve got the votes, we can take out the establishment, vote with us.’ That’s how that works. But they didn’t.
So now the dude in power can put who he wants on committees. Because you all didn’t organize or negotiate effectively. And whose fault is that really.
There’s a reason the saying is ‘if you come for the king you best not miss’ and not ‘if you come for the king, it’s cool, he’ll still totally put you on his committees.’
From the races
World Triathlon Para Series - Montreal: Lauren Parker just keeps winning in the WC division, the French men swept the PTS4, and Canadian Stefan Daniel won at home.
Americas Cup: Interestingly, Morgan Pearson raced the Americas Cup in Montreal and took second.
Results: IM Lake Placid, Ecuador 70.3, World Tri Para Series - Montreal, World Tri Americas Cup - Montreal
Mark your calendars
IM Leeds: Sam Laidlow has to validate this weekend. Full start list here.
Boise 70.3: (pronounced “boys-ee” for the Europeans) Paula Findlay, Jeannie Metzler, Jackson Laundry, plus Trevor Foley trying to make the turnaround. Full start lists here.
T100 London lists are out. (Give Lydia Russell a wildcard!)
The -ish
Some of the things worth knowing about this week in our sports — or that I just think are interesting.
There’s a new El Salvador 70.3 and one in Dallas. (Ironman)
Vince Luis tore his calf at Roth. Gotta stay on top of the injured reserve list. (Instagram)
Fun story about Solveig Loevseth’s shoelaces at Placid and the Norwegian optimization. (Triathlete)
And the kind of fun stories I enjoy out of the Tour: How do the leaders get custom yellow bikes overnight? (Velo)
It was the fastest time up Mont Ventoux. Alaphilippe dislocated his shoulder and popped it back in. Van der Poel had pneumonia (oops!). And people keep trying to convince me I just don’t understand how not boring the Grand Tours are, and, well, you know how I know it’s boring because I used to watch every single day and I did a lot of fast-forwarding, so. (Instagram/Cycling Weekly/NBS)
How hard is it for an amateur to ride the entire route? (Escape Collective)
And the calories burned and consumed in a 100-mile running race. (Outside)
The Tour de France Femmes starts on Saturday and Demi Vollering is still not happy about how last year went down. (Escape Collective/Facebook)
Ruth Chepngetich, the world record holder in the marathon, tested positive for Hydrochlorothiazide (a diuretic used as a masking agent) and I don’t have a lot to add but I think Alison covered it all at
. (Fast Women)The Swimming World Championships are happening right now, but you want to mark Aug. 2 for the Summer McIntosh v. Katie Ledecky in the 800m. (SwimSwam)
A good Hoka ad — with Grace Norman in it. (Youtube)
The Crossfit Games champ raced this Youtube influencer (who is doing a whole series of tackling physical challenges in his 40s) at a 70.3. And I just enjoy that Ironman commented on the Youtube video. (Youtube)
Do dads know how to RSVP? I mean, you do, so if you’re not it’s not because you don’t know how. Here’s a good test of mental load: When you leave the house, do you have to unload a whole bunch of information on your partner that they don’t have and need to know or do you just…leave? How about when they leave the house, do they have to tell you a whole bunch of details about things? There’s your answer. ()
One last thing
Bet you never thought about the podium beer shower prep that goes in.
Yay Dr.Matt! Go BUCKEYES!!