putter Nick Ponzio says he's done

[ATK]

Were all 3 missed tests on the same day? Who doesn't replace their phone within a day or two?

I'd bet you'll find social media posts by him in his missed test windows which he was miraculously able to do from a broken phone.

All your questions would be answered and your assumptions addressed if you just watched his explanation video.

He DID replace his phone that same day.
He DIDN'T have any missed tests, he had 3 whereabouts failures. Yes theres a difference in this case.

Again watch his video explanation.

[NotDutra5]

The one thing that struck me is that he uses(used) an email address which he knows is going to be eliminated to have access to an app which his livelihood completely depends on. Doesn't make much sense to me.

[mgallagh43]

The fact that WA makes zero effort to make the connection . . .
The onus is definitely on the athlete, but yeah, WA keeps shooting itself in the foot. Wasn't R Ross IN Eugene for the WC when the 3rd came?

Yeah it's both to me - WA/WADA are chronically understaffed and underfunded in this effort (for obvious reasons related to robust anti doping control also being bad for some interested parties) and if anything nabbing people because they can't remember to sate the bureaucracy keeps everyone happy and relevant. Otoh there does need to be some kind of whereabouts system in the current regime, it's just this system ain't it.

Ross, iirc, was at meets for two of his three failures, both NC meets and in Eugene for NCAA champs for the second.

[Dave]

The fact that WA makes zero effort to make the connection . . .
The onus is definitely on the athlete, but yeah, WA keeps shooting itself in the foot. Wasn't R Ross IN Eugene for the WC when the 3rd came?

It seems like there should be a good faith effort required to reach the athletes including a call to the coach.

[18.99s]

Yeah it's both to me - WA/WADA are chronically understaffed and underfunded in this effort (for obvious reasons related to robust anti doping control also being bad for some interested parties) and if anything nabbing people because they can't remember to sate the bureaucracy keeps everyone happy and relevant. Otoh there does need to be some kind of whereabouts system in the current regime, it's just this system ain't it.

Yep. They're more concerned with punishing athletes who have bureaucratic slip-ups than actually finding and testing the athletes.

[gh]

It seems like there should be a good faith effort required to reach the athletes including a call to the coach.

i'd say granting 3 strikes pretty much covers all the "good faith" that's needed.

[ATK]

It seems to me, based on how Ponzi is describing it, at least one of the last 2 strikes should be removed or something considering the situation.

[Steele]

Well, I learned something new. I thought a whereabouts violation was that they went to test you at time/location at which you told them you would be, and you weren't there. I didn't realize they are simply sitting in a room, so to speak, and matching your phone's time/location against your time/location in your testing window. If they don't match, you get popped. Am I understanding that correctly?

Thoughts on Ponzio:

What poor password handling. Relying on your phone to "remember" all your passwords and contacts for you without having some kind of back up is asking for failure. Even your normal Joe that doesn't rely on their phone they way an athlete does now is still going to have a rough life, constantly having to reset passwords, hit the "lost password" button, call businesses, etc. Back up, back up, back up. Or as the Seals say, two is one and one is none.

He talked to all kinds of people but didn't call the testers? "I didn't even know I could call them." What kind of an excuse is that? If I'm facing down a ban from the sport, it doesn't matter what you think or know. You just fire all the guns, period. Quit relying on federations, agents, managers, coaches. The second my phone went black I would have borrowed a friend's phone and called those testers. And I would have called them every day with an update until I got my phone situation squared away.

[Atticus]

It seems to me, based on how Ponzi is describing it, at least one of the last 2 strikes should be removed or something considering the situation.

USATF (or USADA, I forget which), sent Scantling a letter removing the third strike, and then he was busted anyway.

[NotDutra5]

Well, I learned something new. I thought a whereabouts violation was that they went to test you at time/location at which you told them you would be, and you weren't there. I didn't realize they are simply sitting in a room, so to speak, and matching your phone's time/location against your time/location in your testing window. If they don't match, you get popped. Am I understanding that correctly?

Thoughts on Ponzio:

What poor password handling. Relying on your phone to "remember" all your passwords and contacts for you without having some kind of back up is asking for failure. Even your normal Joe that doesn't rely on their phone they way an athlete does now is still going to have a rough life, constantly having to reset passwords, hit the "lost password" button, call businesses, etc. Back up, back up, back up. Or as the Seals say, two is one and one is none.

He talked to all kinds of people but didn't call the testers? "I didn't even know I could call them." What kind of an excuse is that? If I'm facing down a ban from the sport, it doesn't matter what you think or know. You just fire all the guns, period. Quit relying on federations, agents, managers, coaches. The second my phone went black I would have borrowed a friend's phone and called those testers. And I would have called them every day with an update until I got my phone situation squared away.

The points at which he could have communication with someone...his email pw...didn't know he could call someone...did he ask his agent to help out (I don't recall him saying this)...etc, he failed at.

That's just...um....curious.

[DET59]

A couple of observations. I have 3 college educated kids in Nicks age range. One is an IT engineer and would have sorted it out in an hour, ones work with technology daily in a hospital and might have taken until the next day. One is like Nick, has washed his phone a couple of times, makes GF angry for not texting, is too busy snowboarding to worry. At most it would have taken him a week to sort it out, and his livelihood doesn't depend one iota on whether he has a working phone or not. Somethings not quite right here for this to take a month... Also, is there an animosity toward Nick for being "American," as in he is taking money for the Italian federation taht could have gone to a "local"? This crossed my mind as well in what seems to be part conspiracy theory and part "I can't figure out my tech."

[18.99s]

Somethings not quite right here for this to take a month...

It's the password & data recovery process that would take a month because his recovery email is no longer available.

[DET59]

It's the password & data recovery process that would take a month because his recovery email is no longer available.

Then get a hold of the various network adiminstrators immediately and explain the problem. Put "your team" on it. Document every attempt to login, make contact, etc. It's your livelihood. Even me, a pretty total idiot tech-wise, would have bought a brand new phone the same day, had Apple restore as much data as possible, and then I would have immediately contacted the network administrators and every one on the chain of command at all the PED scheduling and testing organizations as well as cc: everyone at my federation. A month ? I feel really bad for him, I suspect there may be some other issues against him that he has no control over (being an Italian "outsider") but so much of his video is after the fact "excusing" for errors he made. May this, and the other "tech issue" excuses we've heard in the past, be a lesson for young athletes and their coaches, agents and managers. Figure it out. Don't wait. Your livelihood depends on mastering some basic technology and learning how to back things up and manage passwords. Document everything.

[LuckySpikes]

It seems like there should be a good faith effort required to reach the athletes including a call to the coach.

No, there has to be a definite line. Either you are where you said you'd be or you're not. If you are but you've nipped to the toilet, no problem. The testers don't just knock once, they spend time waiting, knocking again or, if it's a public venue, asking around etc. If you're not there but have a good excuse like your child being hospitalised suddenly, then it's OK. Just provide the paperwork proving that and the whereabouts failure is rescinded.

However, making calls to athletes or coaches just opens up room for more shenanigans to occur and that definite line that's needed just becomes hazy.

[Revenant]

It's always interesting to see which athletes excuses people choose to believe, over others.

Athlete A:
A tester goes to the wrong door, but cannot contact the athlete as they did not update the system with their new mobile.
A flight is cancelled, meaning the athlete has to travel by land, and cannot reach their destination. They text their third-party agent, who is assigned with updating Athlete A's whereabouts, at 2:25am, but the agent is asleep and misses the text.

Athlete B:
Mobile phone breaks. They get a new one, but their contacts do not sync, and they cannot update their whereabouts information. They have no access to password information or, indeed, their back up email address. They notify their agent.
They do not attempt to notify their federation until a week later when they are competing at their NCs.

Athlete A is guilty to everyone. Athlete B is a victim to some.

Pour moi, they are both as guilty as each other. Learn the system. Keep your details up to date yourself. Do not rely on other people to act with urgency to save your career. And if you do fail to do this, put your hands up, do not go on a diatribe about how the sport is pushing innocent athletes out. Coz that's BS.