Rodolphe von Berg Sr. fires back at Sam Laidlow for “slandering me and my family”
Social media posts have confirmed a confidential ITA investigation
Photo by:
Kevin Mackinnon
One of the people mentioned in Sam Laidlow’s social media post yesterday (see story below), in which he confirmed that he is the subject of an International Testing Agency (ITA) investigation, has fired back with his own response to Laidlow’s allegations, accusing the Frenchman of slander.
Rodolphe von Berg Sr., whose son Rudy is one of the sport’s top Ironman athletes with wins at Ironman Nice and Ironman Texas along with a fourth-place finish at this year’s Ironman World Championship, started his post by saying “I am not slandering you. You are slandering me and my family by deliberately and maliciously choosing to convey the meaning of my PRIVATE email which was never meant to be public.”
According to von Berg’s post, an email he wrote was “forwarded by mistake to a third person who shared it with” Laidlow. von Berg also says that his son had no knowledge of the email, and that Laidlow “unfairly and unjustly attacked my son.”
“Your mentioning him shows a despicable sense of ethics,” von Berg continues. The post also cites allegations referred to in Laidlow’s post that he says were not included in his email.
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ITA procedures and policy
We reached out to the ITA for clarification on the investigation process and comment about Laidlow’s post.
“On a general note, we can confirm that the ITA receives on a regular basis through its confidential reporting platform REVEAL suspicions of doping or alleged anti-doping rule violations across the over 50 sports that the ITA oversees internationally,” Marta Nawrocka, Communication Senior Manager with the ITA wrote in an email. “Any information brought to our attention is thoroughly and carefully reviewed by our experts and handled confidentially in the pursuit of clean sport.”
“As you will understand, the ITA cannot comment on the existence of or the status of any ongoing investigations, but we would like to assure the triathlon community that all information brought to our attention is meticulously assessed in full independence and always with the interests of the athletes to compete [with] a fair environment in mind,” Nawrocka’s email continued. “All allegations must be supported by sufficient verifiable evidence and be free from deliberate tarnishing, otherwise the presumption of innocence applies.”
Other responses:
Two other athletes named in Laidlow’s post replied in the comments section.
Marjolaine Pierre, (who won Ironman Cascais today) wrote “I can’t let you say this, what you write about me is not what happened at all,” going on to provide details of a conversation she and her partner Clement Mignon had with Laidlow and his girlfriend last January. Pierre goes on to say that Mignon was “interrogated” by the ITA for an hour and a half.
Mignon also wrote a comment, confirming that he’d been contacted by the ITA.
