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Disgraced track coach Trevor Graham lashed out against the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in a 976-word Facebook rant posted on August 7, 2016. Graham doesn't believe USADA really cares about protecting the interests of “clean athletes”. Otherwise, USADA would have done something to prevent other supposedly steroid-tainted coaches from being actively involved with American athletes competing at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.
Specifically, Graham accused USADA of turning a blind eye to the steroid dealings of various former track athletes and coaches who are still involved in track and field. These include several individuals that were linked to the 2003 BALCO scandal such as Victor Conte and Angel Heredia as well former athletes such as Dennis Mitchell and Maurice Greene.
Graham's hostility and animosity may come across as sour grapes since he is the only individual in the aforementioned group who received a lifetime suspension by USADA. Graham was the coach who anonymously submitted a syringe of tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) to USADA. THG was the designer steroid synthesized by Patrick Arnold and distributed Conte and BALCO. Conte, Heredia, Mitchell and Greene are still involved in track and field in some capacity.
Graham considered himself a whistleblower in the BALCO case. Graham now believes he was punished for exposing the doping involvement of so many top track and field athletes and support personnel.
“Over the past ten years, I have been bullied, harassed, attacked, and defamed by the UNITED STATES ANTI DOPING AGENCY and the media. It’s really getting ridiculous and I wonder why, but I have finally figured out that. The Olympics is about to start and the people at the top is still pissed off at me for being the first Whistleblower in our sport and every time the Russian situation comes up, these people always remember who and when it all started.”
Graham has always denied having any direct knowledge or involvement in doping even in the face of overwhelming evidence. He was even convicted of lying to federal investigators and sentenced to one year of house arrest. In the face of it all, Graham maintained and continues to maintain his innocence.
Graham has long hated USADA and its CEO Travis Tygart after they handed down a lifetime suspension. Tygart has guaranteed that USADA would never give Graham an opportunity for reinstatement.
"It sends a powerful reminder that coaches are not above the rules,” Tygart said of Graham in July 2008, “There's a misconception that they are because we don't drug-test them, but this shows that we'll use all of our authority. There's no opportunity to seek reinstatement. Any chance that he may have had for that has passed. He's waived that.”
Graham even went so far as to suggest a conspiracy in which the IOC and WADA reanalysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics was simply a convenient way to release information about Russian athletes they knew were doping all along.
“Take a look at the Russian situation. The Russian were given permission by the system to perform state wide doping but as soon as evidence was provided that implicated the system, they fought back by distracting the public by releasing samples on former Olympic athlete, claiming they mysteriously came up with a new test. This is a bunch of garbage because they knew in the past who was doping and what they were using. I hate to tell but there is no new test.”
Graham's bitterness over his lifetime ban is obvious. USADA is still sending him letters warning him to avoid communicating with anyone currently involved in sports. It is not surprising that Graham is angry that many others with a doping history – such as former sprinter Dennis Mitchell and current coach of 2016 Olympian Justin Gatlin – are still coaching at high-level positions within track and field.
Not surprisingly, Graham's conspiracy theories aren't gaining much traction. USADA CEO Tygart has yet to respond to Graham's latest rant. However, it is unlikely that Tygart's opinion of Graham has changed much since 2009 when he told the press that “It's clear that Mr. Graham is still living in La-La Land.”
Specifically, Graham accused USADA of turning a blind eye to the steroid dealings of various former track athletes and coaches who are still involved in track and field. These include several individuals that were linked to the 2003 BALCO scandal such as Victor Conte and Angel Heredia as well former athletes such as Dennis Mitchell and Maurice Greene.
Graham's hostility and animosity may come across as sour grapes since he is the only individual in the aforementioned group who received a lifetime suspension by USADA. Graham was the coach who anonymously submitted a syringe of tetrahydrogestrinone (THG) to USADA. THG was the designer steroid synthesized by Patrick Arnold and distributed Conte and BALCO. Conte, Heredia, Mitchell and Greene are still involved in track and field in some capacity.
Graham considered himself a whistleblower in the BALCO case. Graham now believes he was punished for exposing the doping involvement of so many top track and field athletes and support personnel.
“Over the past ten years, I have been bullied, harassed, attacked, and defamed by the UNITED STATES ANTI DOPING AGENCY and the media. It’s really getting ridiculous and I wonder why, but I have finally figured out that. The Olympics is about to start and the people at the top is still pissed off at me for being the first Whistleblower in our sport and every time the Russian situation comes up, these people always remember who and when it all started.”
Graham has always denied having any direct knowledge or involvement in doping even in the face of overwhelming evidence. He was even convicted of lying to federal investigators and sentenced to one year of house arrest. In the face of it all, Graham maintained and continues to maintain his innocence.
Graham has long hated USADA and its CEO Travis Tygart after they handed down a lifetime suspension. Tygart has guaranteed that USADA would never give Graham an opportunity for reinstatement.
"It sends a powerful reminder that coaches are not above the rules,” Tygart said of Graham in July 2008, “There's a misconception that they are because we don't drug-test them, but this shows that we'll use all of our authority. There's no opportunity to seek reinstatement. Any chance that he may have had for that has passed. He's waived that.”
Graham even went so far as to suggest a conspiracy in which the IOC and WADA reanalysis of samples from the 2008 Beijing Olympics and 2012 London Olympics was simply a convenient way to release information about Russian athletes they knew were doping all along.
“Take a look at the Russian situation. The Russian were given permission by the system to perform state wide doping but as soon as evidence was provided that implicated the system, they fought back by distracting the public by releasing samples on former Olympic athlete, claiming they mysteriously came up with a new test. This is a bunch of garbage because they knew in the past who was doping and what they were using. I hate to tell but there is no new test.”
Graham's bitterness over his lifetime ban is obvious. USADA is still sending him letters warning him to avoid communicating with anyone currently involved in sports. It is not surprising that Graham is angry that many others with a doping history – such as former sprinter Dennis Mitchell and current coach of 2016 Olympian Justin Gatlin – are still coaching at high-level positions within track and field.
Not surprisingly, Graham's conspiracy theories aren't gaining much traction. USADA CEO Tygart has yet to respond to Graham's latest rant. However, it is unlikely that Tygart's opinion of Graham has changed much since 2009 when he told the press that “It's clear that Mr. Graham is still living in La-La Land.”