Clean Sport Collective

You've heard the story of Frank Shorter and how he was robbed of a second gold medal in the 1976 Olympic Marathon (discussed in episode 15). But, have you heard the story of the fourth place finisher that day - American Don Kardong. He finished just 3 seconds out of bronze on that day and should be the rightful holder of that medal after the winner Waldemar Cierpinski was later implicated in a state-sponsored doping program in East Germany.

Even though the International Olympic Committee has acknowledged that cheating occurred, they have yet to correct the record because the statute of limitations has expired. Now 71 years old, Don still waits for his rightly-deserved medal. In this episode, Chris and Kara catch up with Don to hear his side of the story.

We discuss his beginnings in the sport when he joined cross country to stay fit for the basketball team. We hear about his decorated career at Stanford racing rival Steve Prefontaine from Oregon. Post-collegiately, Don shares how he continued to train to make the Olympic team, running two-a-days while working full-time as a 6th grade teacher in Spokane. He talks about making the 1976 Olympic team with Frank Shorter and Bill Rodgers but how no one expected him to perform well at the Games. He then gives all of the details of that bittersweet day in 1976 in Montreal including what he felt like during, immediately after, and of course nearly 2 decades later when he learned the news of Cierpinski's cheating.

Even though he was robbed on that day, Don has gone on to play so many important roles in our sport as a writer for Runner's World, President of the Road Runners Club of America, and founder and race director of the Lilac Bloomsday Run, one of the largest road races in the country. He also continues to give back to clean sport by helping race directors initiate drug testing programs through the Professional Road Running Organization (PRRO).

Because it is never too late to do the right thing, we want to see Don awarded his medal. He deserved it then, and he definitely deserves it now. Thank you to Don for sharing his story with us.

Leo Manzano’s story should be a simple picture of everything that is beautiful about track and field. Mexican-born, he moved to small-town Texas at a young age and had to negotiate with his father to join the middle school cross country team by agreeing to work over the summer to help his family pay the bills.

Once on that team, he fell in love with the sport, and then with his raw talent combined with grit, determination, perseverance, and lots of hard work, he went on to earn 9 state titles, 5 NCAA championships, 10-straight podium finishes at USAs, 2 Olympic teams, and one history-making silver medal at the London Olympics. Though small in stature at five and a half feet tall, Leo was a giant on the track known for his devastating finishing kick that carried him onto that podium in London and to the front of countless races.

Unfortunately, Leo’s story cannot be told without discussing some of the sport’s darkest shadows. In his first Olympics in Beijing, the gold and silver medalists were later busted for EPO use. In London in 2012, he was beaten by Taoufik Makhloufi who was the subject of great suspicion at the time and is now under investigation by French doping authorities after allegedly being caught with syringes and performance-enhancing substances. Gold medal and national anthem moment stolen.

Even after winning his silver medal, the first Olympic medal by an American in 44 years in the 1500m, Leo’s contract was reduced by Nike because he was deemed “too old” at the age of 27. As a result, Leo let his Nike contract expire but couldn’t find another deal for 18 months as he struggled to find another company that appreciated the value in his story. Meanwhile, he silenced the skeptics in 2014 and won his 2nd national title wearing a singlet with no logos.

Leo ultimately signed with Hoka and is supported by them to this day, even beyond retirement, but we can’t help but wonder why one of America’s greatest milers wasn’t more appreciated in his prime.

In this episode, Leo joins Chris and Shanna to talk about both sides of his incredibly inspiring story. This one is a must-listen as Leo humbly reflects on what led him to become one the most decorated milers in US history while also shining new light on the dark sides of the sport with unique perspective and potential solutions. It’s an honor for us to share Leo’s story.

Olympian Molly Huddle has won so many US titles on the track, road, and grass that even she has lost count. As one of the surest bets in US distance running, we *think* she is up to 28 times as a national champion. She is also the first athlete to wear a Clean Sport Collective temporary tattoo in competition when she debuted in the marathon at NYC in 2016.

Kara and Shanna lead this one discussing a broad range topics from her early childhood years in sport to her transition to running in high school with only one season of cross country to her 10K US record earned in a blistering fast but also suspicious race at the Rio Olympics.

Molly talks about how she moved past a season of injuries in and around her collegiate career to achieve such a high level of excellence as a pro while competing clean, as well as her perspective on what the sport needs to do in order to level the playing field, as shared in her recent op-ed in the Providence Journal.

Molly is both a champion in the sport and a champion for clean sport, and we are rooting for her to make another Olympic team this year!

With this interview, we kick off a podcast series interviewing the top contenders for the Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta on February 29th. Stay tuned for twice weekly episodes all month long with the next one coming on Wednesday, February 5th.

Note: This interview was conducted prior to the new shoe regulations announced by World Athletics on January 31st.

Dominique Scott is a 2-Time Olympian, a 5-Time NCAA Champion, a South African champion and record holder, and the owner of two new, smoking-fast personal bests in the half marathon (67:32) and 10K (31:00).

Beyond the accolades, her energy and passion for the sport is contagious, and her journey to realize her Olympic dream in 2016 in Rio is absolutely inspirational. Kara and Chris dig into it all with her.

We are fortunate that Dominique believes in #cleansport, because she also went nearly 2.5 years without an out-of-competition drug test between the fall of 2019 and early March of this year, which included no out-of-competition testing immediately before competing at both the 5K and 10K at the Tokyo Olympics.

That, of course, is not her fault but does highlight the challenges of international drug testing and the window of opportunity for cheating that was created by the COVID-19 pandemic. This conversation also underscores the difficulties of staying motivated as an elite athlete knowing that the playing field is not level.

Listen and be a fan. Dominique's story is one to follow closely as she aspires to compete in both the Commonwealth Games and the World Championships this year.

Finally on a podcast note, we just surpassed 1 million podcast downloads last week which is a big milestone for us! We wanted to thank you all for listening and supporting this platform. Together, we are making a difference in the name of clean sport!

In this episode, we dig into the story behind the stories as Shanna and Kara interview NY Times journalist Lindsay Crouse. In 2019, Lindsay helped break two of the biggest stories of the year, one with Alysia Montano and Allyson Felix on maternity rights for athletes and the other with Mary Cain on her abuse while training with Alberto Salazar at the Nike Oregon Project. Both stories drove critical conversations and paved the path for change in the areas of #dreammaternity and #fixgirlssports. Interestingly, breaking these stories is not Lindsay's main job at the NY Times, and at least one of these stories took nearly 6 years to tell.

In this episode, Shanna and Kara dig into Lindsay's circuitous journey to live her dream in working for the NY Times, while pursuing a parallel dream to qualify for the Olympic Trials in the marathon. Lindsay talks about her childhood aspirations to attend Harvard even though no one from her town in Rhode Island ever had. She discusses her early running career and how she ultimately earned a spot at Harvard to both run and study for her future in journalism.

The path to the NY Times was far from straightforward, however, as Lindsay moved to New York City and had several other jobs before landing her NY Times opportunity. Even then, she had to rely on her own entrepreneurial spirit and instincts to find and tell these important stories, including an initial off-the-record conversation in 2014 with Shanna and Kara on her treatment by Nike during pregnancy.

Finally, Lindsay shares the painstaking and thoughtful work required to verify facts, confirm information from sources, frame the conversation, and ultimately to tell the stories in a way that will resonate with readers in order to provoke much-needed conversations. The work isn't easy, but Lindsay does it well and with integrity. We can't thank her enough for simply giving athletes a platform to tell the truth and to use their voices to drive change in our sport.