Next Steps...MBA, MIA, and beyond

Taking a quick break from writing a grad school application essay, I'm reminded of a conversation I had with USADA's Travis Tygart prior to the Landis hearing. TT is a good guy, and while he has a tough job to do as head of an anti-doping agency, he is still a human being and seems to empathize with the athlete who's gone astray. At the time, to boost my spirits, Travis recounted some of the fall-out from BALCO, and how - for as bad as it was - many of those who were caught up in the scandal were able to continue on with their lives.

He cited Kelli White in particular as someone who did what she had to do to put doping behind her and move on with her life. Travis told me she had enrolled in an MBA program, and though I'm a month late in commenting on it, Kelli White did finally earn that degree...


Disgraced sprinter's life at peace
Kelli White gains an MBA, a job and the satisfaction of knowing telling the truth was the right thing to do.
By John Meyer, The Denver Post
Article Last Updated: 06/22/2008 01:24:42 PM MDT

In meetings less than a week apart in 2004, officials of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency confronted sprinters Marion Jones and Kelli White with documentary evidence of their doping.

Jones chose to fight, calling USADA a "kangaroo court." She vowed to sue. White admitted her wrongdoing and chose to help USADA in its fight against performance-enhancing drugs.

"I have not only cheated myself, but also my family, friends and sport," White said after accepting her punishment, a two-year suspension in 2004 for using erythropoietin (EPO), anabolic steroids and modafinil (a stimulant) that ultimately led to her retirement. "If I can make a difference in cleaning up the sport, then I will have done more for the sport than anything I could have done on the track." Full story here.