Collin Chartier’s coach Mikal Iden reacts to positive EPO test

Today’s news that American Collin Chartier tested positive for EPO has shocked the triathlon world, including, according to a post on Instagram, his coach Mikal Iden, the brother of reigning Ironman world champion Gustav Iden.

Ironman Mont-Tremblant and PTO US Open champion suspended three years for positive EPO test

“I’m in shock and crying just now learning that an athlete I’ve been coaching for the last year has been doping,” Iden wrote. “I can’t distance myself enough from this action.”

Chartier started working with Iden in January, 2022. He burst into prominence last August when he took the win at Ironman Mont-Tremblant, then took the $100,000 first prize check at the Professional Triathletes Organisation (PTO) US Open in Dallas, Texas. At that race, Chartier put together an incredible run split despite the extreme heat that challenged most of the field.

At the time Iden was also coaching Lionel Sanders, and Chartier had been doing a lot of training with the Canadian in Tucson, Arizona. He outlined some of the incredible workouts the pair were doing leading up to both the PTO US Open and the Ironman World Championship in the “How they Train” podcast earlier this year. In his statement today, Chartier said that he didn’t start taking EPO until November.

According to his website, Mikal Iden coaches last weekend’s Ironman Texas champion Rudy von Berg, along with Norwegian national team members Casper Stornes and Vetle Thorn. An accomplished triathlete himself, Mikal Iden won Ironman Talinn in 2019.