B.C. Ironman athlete denies cheating allegations
A debate is brewing within the North American triathlon community about a Squamish athlete who was a world champion in her age group in 2014 but is now the target of allegations she cheated by failing to complete races.
Julie Miller won her age category at the Whistler Ironman in July, but was later disqualified and her victory stripped.
In a phone interview with The Sun, she staunchly maintained her innocence.
“I did not cheat in the recent Whistler Ironman competition, nor would I ever cheat or have I ever cheated,” she said. “I would never, ever knowingly do anything to disrespect or disparage my fellow competitors.”
She has recently, though, been disqualified from two races in which she finished first in the women’s 40-44 age group, and has been under investigation by other race organizers.
Miller said the allegations against her online are hurtful. Certainly not all can be proven, but these are the facts The Sun can report:
• Miller was stripped of her Whistler Ironman win and as a result, can no longer compete in the Ironman World Championship in Hawaii this October.
“Based on the combination of photographs and timing data, it was determined Julie Miller did not complete the entire run course of Ironman Canada and was therefore disqualified,” the organization said in a brief email.
• Miller won her age category in the July 2014 Half Ironman in Vancouver, but was recently disqualified after organizer Triathlon B.C. analyzed allegations of “performance irregularities,” said executive director Allan Prazsky.
• Miller’s victory in her age category at the 2014 Long Distance Triathlon World Championships in Weihai, China was recently reviewed by organizers, but her title remains.
“We looked into her result in Weihai, as her times from Motala (Sweden) this year to Weihai last year are quite different, and asked the timing company from 2014 World Champs to send us her splits on each lap of each discipline,” said Erin Greene of International Triathlon Union, organizer of the Sweden and China races.
“However, the timing company only has records of her swim, bike and run overall splits,” she said. Without lap splits, there is not enough evidence to determined what happened, she added.
Miller insisted there were technological inconsistencies in China, where some athletes were given “messy” times for certain portions of the race and stressed she didn’t cut short the course.
Greene said Ironman Canada contacted her organization for information on Miller’s race times after it was determined she lost her timing chip in two competitions. Losing a chip (which is usually worn on a strap around the ankle) makes it more difficult for organizers to track times for each leg of a race, and it is relatively unusual for them to go missing.
Miller, who is a recreational, not a professional, racer, said her timing chips were lost during the Ironman in Whistler both this year and in 2013, when she finished in the Top 10 for her age group. She guessed they fell off during the swim or when she changed her clothes between the bike and run.
“I wish I knew what happened to my timing chip during the Ironman event so there would be a reliable record of my race activity. Technology has bitten most of us at least once or twice,” said Miller, who has her master’s degree in social work and works as a counsellor.
A statement attributed to her coach, Bjoern Ossenbrink, is posted online saying he has now dropped Miller as a client.
Miller said Ossenbrink, who has a long history of coaching endurance athletes, has not told her that directly, but she has heard he posted something to that effect on Facebook.
Ossenbrink did not respond to messages from The Sun.
Dan Empfield publishes a popular triathlon blog where athletes dedicated to time-consuming endurance sports have intensely debated Miller’s race histories.
Empfield cautioned a disqualification from a race is not proof that a runner cheated, but added people will draw their own conclusions.
“I think that the reason that these issues are debated so passionately in the community is because they speak to the fabric of fairness that either holds together or comes unravelled,” said Empfield, a Californian who has run triathlons for nearly 40 years and has designed triathlon wetsuits and bikes.
“It is important that people who are accused be treated fairly and it is also important that everyone believes that the event occurs under an umbrella of fairness.”
Miller has her supporters. Her friend Krista Guloien, who won a silver medal in rowing at the 2012 Olympics, continues to back her.
“I still stand by my belief (however foolish anyone might think it is) that it was not Julie’s intention to cut the course,” Guloien said on her blog.