New Anti-Doping Sanction
I wasn’t expecting to write anything about anti-doping cases tonight, until I got this press release from USADA in my email.
Turns out, James Mortenson, a 31-year-old professional mountain biker and a member of the 2006 Team Vail/Beaver Creek/Go Fast Race Across America squad who lives in Eagle Creek, Colorado is being suspended for two years because he failed to provide his whereabouts to USA Cycling/USADA authorities as part of the Out of Competition testing program on three occasions over an 18 month period.
### Update: Looking at Mortenson’s race results on USA Cycling’s web site (thanks TBV for digging up the link), he appears to be a retired, or semi-retired pro who may not have bothered filling out the paperwork — perhaps thinking because he was no longer active he didn’t need to comply. ###
Maybe it’s just me, but shouldn’t there be some middle ground here? Failing to report your whereabouts seems like a much lesser offense than testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. Although, to be fair to USADA, they do need to know where to find someone if they’re going to do an unannounced test. But punishing someone who’s no longer racing? Or at least, not racing very much? I think there’s bigger fish to fry, and more appropriate cases to consider than this one.
I know rules are rules and they have to be enforced. And I can understand a two year suspension for doping charges, like Tyler Hamilton lived through and like Floyd Landis faces if he’s found guilty of a doping violation. But two years for failing to phone home just seems over the top.
