This is an open post to Robert Johnson from Seth Coleman, Christian Coleman's dad: For you to utter such nonsensical drivel, that "Christian Coleman should be drug tested every day for the rest of his career," shows that you are an unprofessional, irresponsible hack. And an idiot. -- It is medially irresponsible to take blood intravenously from a human being every day. -- Christian did not "get off on a technicality" or a "loophole." The rule is the rule. Ask USADA. Ask WADA. -- Christian has been tested over 30 times in a calendar year and, I would venture to guess that since he graduated from high school in 2014 and began his college career at the University of Tennessee, he has been tested 100 times by the NCAA, USADA, WADA , the AIU, etc. He has never even had ONE false positive. -- When Christian broke the world record in the 60m the FIRST time, HE CALLED WADA immediately and asked them to come test him so his record would be ratified. He eventually MET A TESTER AT A DINER, at 2 a.m. Does that sound like a "cheater?" -- And you compared him to the dirt bag ex-coach at the University of Toledo? Are you serious? -- Bottom line: Christian will be more diligent in his whereabout filings, but he did not break a rule. He is not a "doper." Never has been. Never will be. You, on the other hand, are an unprofessional, irresponsible, idiotic hack. And I have no problem telling you this -- calmly and rationally -- to your face.
Editor's note: In the post above, Seth Coleman, Christian's father, is referring to the most recent episode of the LetsRun.com podcast where we talked about Christian's three whereabouts failures in a 12-month period. We have confirmed that the post above indeed did come from Seth Coleman. You can hear what we said about Coleman at the 25:09 mark of the podcast (link at the end of this post). Robert Johnson responded to Mr. Coleman's criticisms by emailing him the following:
Robert wrote:
This is Robert Johnson. I'm a co-founder of the website LetsRun.com. Someone claiming to be you posted on our messageboard last night.
Can you confirm that you did in fact post it?
If it was indeed you, I'd like to explain a few things.
I asked that Christian be tested every day because as a fan it's impossible to know what to enjoy about our sport as being real. Think about how many Olympic champions have been popped over the years, whether in the sprints (Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Justin Gatlin, etc.) or distances (Asli Cakir Alptekin, Asbel Kiprop, Jemima Sumgong). It's just so frustrating.
In my mind, all performances in our sport are subject to doubt, and whether fair or not, these three whereabouts failures by your son will cause his performances to be scrutinized by some for the rest of his career. The only way to remove most of that doubt would be to be tested every single day.
I think Christian offering to do something like this would be a real opportunity for him. It would give fans a reason to believe in a big star and enjoy the sport once again. I think it would be educational as well. Christian could be viewed as a role model moving forward. Everyone could believe in him being clean and he could show young people that you can make mistakes at a young age and overcome it. Yes, daily blood tests wouldn't be possible, but you could do a urine test every day.
As for Kevin Hadsell, I only mentioned his name because he made an amazing point at his own expense. As Lance Armstrong proved, passing scores of drug tests doesn't really mean much, but if you do it every day then I think you cross a threshold where it means something and I think people are going to believe.
As someone who has been in the public eye myself (though obviously not to the same degree as Christian) for nearly two decades, I know how hard it is to see public criticism of you or a family member. It hurts and is hard to deal with.
I think it’s wonderful you are defending your son and your post makes me think it's likely your son is CLEAN. Are you open to an interview with our reporter Jonathan Gault? Or would you like to be on our podcast next week as a guest?
Yours in running,
-Robert
Mr. Coleman wrote back:
Seth Coleman wrote:
Good morning, Mr. Johnson.
Yes, I submitted that post.
With all due respect, you suggesting that Christian be tested every day for the rest of his career is asinine on so many levels. As I said in my post, he has been and will continue to be tested and scrutinized more than just about any athlete on the planet. Again, he has been tested more than 30 times in a year and has always been clean. He has never even had a false positive. There is no need for him to be tested every day – blood or urine. Mentioning his name in the same sentence and Ben Johnson, Marion Jones, Lance Armstrong, and Justin – in reference to PED’s – is reckless, ESPECIALLY given the fact that USADA dropped their case and WADA has decided quickly that it will not try to appeal. And the Toledo coach is a crass dirt bag, an accused sexual predator, who lacks character, professionalism and common decency. Bringing his name into this discussion about Christian, in any context, was/is foolish.
Christian did not violate any USADA rules or policies that would cause him to be banned. The only thing he needs to do, and will do moving forward, is to be more diligent and thorough about his whereabout filings.
Also, thanks, but I respectfully decline the offer to be on your show. Have a nice day.
Podcast link:
