The first has to do with a water bottle. As you may know, any athlete who has been ranked in the top 100 of the world can be randomly drug tested at just about any time. We all have to fill out paperwork months in advance so that the USADA drug testers know where they can find us any minute of any day.

On September 1 we all had to submit our location forms for the October – December quarter. I submitted my forms on August 31. Ten days later, I received an email notification from USADA that I was one of 14 lucky winners of a USADA water bottle for turning my forms in on time. The next day the water bottle appeared on my doorstep.

USADA awarding me for my timeliness – how ironic. It had taken them less time to award and send me the water bottle than it did for them to run that very important drug test in early July. I appreciate the gesture, but I’m sorry, the water bottle doesn’t make me feel any better.

The second topic I wanted to discuss has to do with the continuation of my arbitration with USA Swimming, which they are trying to block. It’s been a little frustrating but I was prepared for mudslinging when I determined that defending my rights and the rights of future athletes was the right thing to do.

Now, I find that not only did USA Swimming prevent me from going to the Games, but they have also asked the arbitrator to make me pay all of their attorney’s fees and other relief. Is this ironic or tragic? Or maybe it’s just disgusting.

It could be a scare tactic, a way of strong-arming me into giving up on what is right. They know that I’m not doing as well financially – mostly because of the actions that they took this summer – so hurting me financially becomes their tactic. If so, it is simply mean-spirited bullying.

I would say this entire situation is a double insult or triple insult, but I think that I will have to call it an infinity insult because as we add things on – it is already so ridiculous that it really doesn’t get any worse.

The coverage will mirror the content we presented last April for the London and Boston marathons. It will include profiles on top runners, human-interest features on other prominent runners, stories that lie deep within the personalities of the races, and updates on the Marathon Major standings that will determine the $500,000 first-place winners for men and women through the New York race.

Many non-elite runners who will be attempting the marathon for the first time in Berlin, Chicago and New York will be able to relate to an exclusive diary written for Universal Sports by Brandi Chastain, the former U.S. women’s soccer player known for converting the final penalty kick that clinched the 1999 FIFA World Cup title for the Americans and the provocative shirt waving celebration that followed.

Chastain is training for her first marathon at New York City. If preliminary phone calls and emails with Brandi are an indication, expect to read about the anxieties and apprehensions she feels as a rookie 26.2-mile runner.

We broadcast our first live marathon at London in 2007 and have since attracted a strong built in audience for races in Boston, London, Berlin, Chicago and New York that have followed. And we expect that interest to only increase. Since marathon running went mainstream in the 1970s, the sport has seen only a minor decrease in interest in the early 1990s. With the infusion since then of charity runners, top marathons now attract at minimum 20,000 runners. Prize money has increased dramatically for the elite racers. Winners of the New York City Marathon will take home about $150,000.

Collectively, the three Marathon Major races this fall will attract close to 130,000 starters. The close-to 40,000 starters in he New York City Marathon will include a team from Universal Sports. I’ll provide an update later on how our training develops.

If you will not be running in one of the races, tune into our broadcasts on UniversalSports.com and Universal Sports TV.

We hope you will enjoy the events.

The question I was asked was, how do I explain the misfortune of so many American favorites thus far? Knowing that I couldn’t answer on the behalf of these other “American favorites” I wanted to make a general statement explaining that the events were unexplainable from my point of view. It was not specific to my races so nor did it make any mention of anything regarding my Jamaican competitors so I was surprised to find so many feeling as if it were an act of poor sportsmanship to discredit my competitors. I am not envious or bitter toward any of my competitors and accept my place knowing that I put my best foot forward. When 8 people line up for a race each plans on winning however it is inevitable that 7 will not be winners and to be able to make it to this level you have to understand that. I Hope this has given those upset or uncertain a clearer representation of my thoughts and intentions.

From the very beginning, from my first contact with USA Swimming, I asked them to do the right thing and name me to the team. And for a while I believed that they would help me and defend my opportunity to compete, as federal law requires them to do. Chuck and Mark both told me in those early days that they would appeal the final entries and work to get me on the team. How foolish I felt later, when I realized that the very people who I was begging to help me and who were promising to do so were the people who had consciously put me in the position I was in the first place.

It was only when I realized that USA Swimming was doing nothing to try and put me on the team and, actually may have been actively working to keep me off the team, that I contacted Michael Dockterman, my lawyer. We drafted a letter to USA Swimming but did not send it because I was in contact with the USOC Athlete Ombudsman, who asked me to hold off because he was trying to broker some sort of deal to at least get us (Amanda, Lara, and me) named to the team. On the evening of July 31st, he told me that he thought that he had gotten some people within the USOC turned around. I later learned that the USOC had at that time put the offer on the table to USA Swimming to name us to the team.

On the evening of August 1st, as I was biking back home from practice, I got a call from the USOC Athlete Ombudsman. He told me that Jessica had withdrawn her appeal and would not be on the team. He then told me that he had received an email from USA Swimming that had informed him that they would not be naming anyone else to the roster – they had turned down the USOC’s offer to place us on the team. He made it clear that the USOC would do nothing further for me – even though the USOC has its own duty to protect my opportunity to compete – as long as my own NGB, USA swimming was against naming me to the team. At that point I felt that I had no choice but to act through my lawyer.

Until that moment, I had clung to the faith I had mistakenly placed in USA Swimming. I thought that we could make this as right as possible, that we wouldn’t have to go before an arbitrator, that, given the opportunity, those who I had previously trusted would prove themselves worthy of that trust. I thought that, as one of their athletes they would stand by me. Not only did they decline to do that but, as they proved later, they actively worked to discredit me.

I then entered arbitration to try to force USA Swimming to do the right thing and name me to the team. At no point along this whole process was I insisting on competing if I didn’t feel I was ready (and USA Swimming knew that). But I did feel that I deserved the opportunity to go to Beijing and determine that for myself. I remember walking out of the pool on the day before the arbitration hearing saying to Greg, my fiancé, “If I were in China and had a practice like that at this point before the Olympics I would feel really good.” The hearing took place on August 5th.

There were a lot of inconsistencies found during testimony. For example, USA Swimming said that its selection procedures didn’t allow it to add alternates to the team. But USA Swimming admitted that it asked the USOC to add Kara Lynn to the team to fill a “vacancy” created when Dara decided not to swim the 100 free. This didn’t make sense because, according to the rules, Dara dropping the 100 free didn’t create any vacancy in the relay, which she did not drop. In fact, there are no rules at all that determine who, among the first four finishers, swims the 100 free individual (check for yourself – the rules only deal with the relays, not the 100 or 200 free individuals). For an NGB that was relying so heavily on the “rules” it was striking that there is nothing in the rules that actually determines who swims the 100 and 200 free. Dara declining to swim the individual event meant that she was only trading positions with the third place person, Lacey, so no vacancy on the roster was actually created. Someone at USA Swimming must have known this. Why else would they seek to gain special permission from the USOC to add Kara Lynn to the roster? This means that when they added Kara Lynn to the team, it was actually either as an alternate to Emily (against their rules), who later had to swim a time trial to gain her spot, or without a vacancy at all (also against their rules).

I’m not bringing this up to say that Kara Lynn shouldn’t have been added to the team – they did the right thing there. If Emily had not been able to swim, they were protecting Kara Lynn’s opportunity to compete. I only wonder why they would do the right thing in adding Kara, when it was not specifically within their rules and then refuse to do the same for Amanda, Lara, and me?

We also learned that USA Swimming had the chance to address this problem on July 21, when its rules allowed it to go outside the “team” to add swimmers, and when it was more than likely Jessica would not be able to swim. But they made a deliberate decision to wait until after July 21, when they could argue that the rules provided that any substitutes had to come from those already on the team. Of course, the real deadline to name members to the team imposed by the BOCOG and the USOC was July 23, which USA Swimming ignored. It was plain that USA Swimming’s devotion to “rules” applies differently to different athletes.

We also asked Chuck the obvious question: if selection for the 100 freestyle individual event is not included in the selection procedures, is that a mistake? Chuck continually dodged the question and in the end would not answer it. It was a disturbing moment in which it became clear that USA Swimming would never admit to any mistakes, even if they were staring them straight in the face. It was plain that there were other problems with the rules and the timing set by USA Swimming to select the team, but when those flaws became apparent USA Swimming refused to ask the USOC to be able to address the problems. Other inconsistencies occurred, but we still need to get more information on those before I am comfortable with discussing them.

However, even though USA Swimming had been flexible with the rules in regard to the 400 freestyle relay, the arbitrator found that USA Swimming did not violate any of its rules, flawed as they were, to keep me off the team. So he could not name me to the team and could not force the USOC – which refused to be part of the arbitration – to take the issue to FINA and BOGOG. Still, the arbitrator expressly allowed me to move forward in this with considerable momentum and I am going forward to make sure this does not happen to anyone else ever again.

After the arbitration Chuck sent out a letter. This letter was reportedly an internal communication to USA Swimming but was conveniently leaked to the press. The heavy-handed attempt to vilify me was clear from the very first line. A second letter attempted to shift blame for this situation onto Jessica’s shoulders. Unfortunately, USA Swimming had seemingly forgotten that it is an organization that is supposed to be watching out for their athletes. The letter also went on to compare Jessica’s doping violation to a cancer victim, which I found shockingly callous. Perhaps I should have responded then but I shut down further commentary to prevent my situation from becoming a distraction to the team.

Over the next few weeks I also found out about the mistake that lead to Jessica’s positive sample sitting in the lab for weeks and the delayed fax. While the increasing pieces of bad luck shocked me, I had already gone over the testing and hearing process and realized that it probably wouldn’t have mattered. With the schedule set by USA Swimming and the gap in its rules to deal with doping, there was no guarantee that the extra time would have made a difference. The one bright point here was that someone at the lab acknowledged and apologized for their mistake.

Behind the scenes, Michael, my lawyer, was writing letters to the USOC to ask them to name me to the team because it was the right thing to do, was what I had earned at the Trials, and was required by federal law protecting my opportunity to compete in the Olympics. However, the USOC took the position that they cannot undermine the authority of their NGBs by taking any action inconsistent with the NGBs’ wishes. It is a nice little box for everyone to retreat into. The USOC says that the team is determined by USA Swimming so they can’t do anything. USA Swimming says that it is the USOC’s team so they can’t do anything. Convenient…for everyone but the athlete.

At this point, I think that I’ve pretty much exhausted the avenues of asking people to help me. Unfortunately, everything after this point will have to be fought for. And I feel that it is something I have to pursue. I make a statement by continuing but I also would make a statement in walking away. If I did that, I would say that it is ok to tread all over the athlete’s rights.

This isn’t about money or revenge. This is about making this situation right. This is about fighting for my rights and the rights of other athletes. USA Swimming needs to remember that the reason for its existence is the athletes. The three of us – Lara, Amanda, and I – deserve an apology from them and we deserve to be named to the Olympic team. We need to fix the rules or change the timing of Trials so that no athlete can ever be kept off the team if an athlete ahead of them fails a doping test. I am doing what I can to motivate this change and I am steadfast in my conviction to do so.

I am in Kirkland, WA right now. I just got done with a day of doing paperwork and tracking down medical payments and billing stuff… which is never a good time. I blogged a few months ago about my love of the medical insurance industry. Lets just say that the passion is still there. Anyway, decided it was time to share a bit about something way more fun… skiing in Chile!

We went to La Parva this time which was new to me. A few of the guys had been there before, way back when, but for the most part it was a new adventure for all of us. It was quite nice. Refreshing. We had a good set up: condo right next to the hill, a cook (Anita) who made lunch and dinner for us…all and all it was really well done. We were all packed into a fairly tight space, but it seemed to work out just fine.

The skiing was good… a bit soft, but we got a lot of volume in training GS and I got back on the speed skis, which I have to say was a highlight. It was a pretty smooth transition back into speed for me, helped by the mild and mellow conditions. I had a great time getting up to speed and making some longer turns. We had a pretty small group, so the courses stayed really decent the whole session, even though it was soft. Just got a few days on the DH boards, but we had some good days of SG as well.

Another highlight was a few days of powder we got in during the mid-camp storm. There was a couple great runs that were a 30 min hike away- a couple of great faces and a nice narrow chute to explore. Marco is peering into that chute in the photo- notice the massive double cornice on the top behind him. That photo was from one of the last days we were there, so the wind had added to the lip. The really nice powder day, it was just the lower cornice, which looked massive at that time.

The final great point of the trip I will mention is the sunsets, fittingly. Every night we enjoyed both being above the smog of Santiago and enjoying the fact that the smog made for incredible sunsets up in the mountains.

Till next time…

Coming down the homestretch I saw a sea of red shirts that made up a group of 15 or so of my family members wearing the Hall Believe t-shirts. I waved to them as a sign of appreciation for all they had supported me through. It was comforting to see my family. It had been a difficult two hours and twelve minutes of running and this final stage of my Olympic marathon would be somewhat of a consolation. As it turned out it was one of the most memorable moments of my life.

My watch read 3:13 am when I first opened my eyes on August 24th. I had set my alarm for 4:30 am to be ready in time for the 7:30 am start but this was the day I had been waiting for my whole life and I was glad to have the night passed over and the day at hand. About half an hour after I woke up I heard a loud booming noise outside. I looked out the window and saw the most freakish lightening storm I had ever seen.

In hindsight I speculate that the Chinese may have seeded the sky because it was a super intense storm with lightening flashing brightly across the dawn sky for about ten minutes then there was torrential rain for two minutes and then it just seemed to vanish out of no where. It seems too random that there would be a freak thunderstorm just three hours before the start of the Olympic marathon. Regardless, I was glad for the clear skies and somewhat cooler temperatures.

We headed out to Tieneman Square on a bus at 5:30 am. The atmosphere was buzzing. I jogged for seven minutes with Dathan and Brian. The mood was lighthearted as we circled around on the cobblestones near the starting line. The temperature was slowly starting to rise so we slapped on our ice vests in an attempt to keep our core temperature low.

Finally I was here. After years of struggle and wanting to throw in the towel I had made it to the start of the Olympic marathon. I took a minute to remember all the American guys back at home that hoped to be on the starting line. I wanted to do my best to represent them well. I fell to one knee and prayed, “Lord, I will do my very best for you no matter what happens out there.” A few minutes later the gun fired.

From the very first hundred meters Samuel Wanjiru, of Kenya, made it clear that he was feeling good. He sprinted straight to the front and asserted a fast pace. During those opening kilometers I was forced to make a tough decision: either go with the leaders and hope that I wasn’t committing suicide or try and win by out smarting the lead pack knowing that they had gone out too hard and wait for them to slow in the later stages.

I knew that above all I had to listen to my body, the pace felt fast and my breathing felt heavy, and when I finally saw the first 5k split (I never saw a mile or kilometer split before 5k) of just over 15 minutes I knew that I couldn’t go out any harder than I was running. I also knew that if I kept running three minutes per kilometer I would win the race, however, much to my surprise three minutes per kilometer would have only earned me the silver medal.

I figured the best plan was to run similarly to how I raced the World Road Running Championships in 2006 when I went out way slower than the leaders and worked my way up to a top ten finish. I saw my coach at 10k and he affirmed that the leaders went out too hard. He was right, the leaders did go out at a pace that they couldn’t hold to the finish, but unfortunately for me, even before I hit the half way point I felt my legs tiring and tightening. I just wasn’t as fluid or strong as I had been in previous marathons.

By 30k I pretty much knew, by the sight of the helicopter in the distance following the leaders that I was slowing down more than the leaders. There would be no medals for me this time around. I set my mind on the only thing I could still accomplish in the race: giving 100% of all that I had on the day. I may not have my “A” game but I was determined to give all of whatever game I brought on the day.

In hindsight I wish that I had gone out with the leaders and just hung as long as possible. I think the way I ran was smarter and probably did yield a higher finish than if I had gone out two minutes harder for the opening half, but part of me also wonders if I would have been more excited being with the leaders and been able to rally with some supernatural strength and pull off a medal.

Although, if I would have blown up I know I would have been telling myself that if I would have just went out slower I could have held the pace all the way to the line. In the end, I wasn’t physically on top of my game. I had put in a lot of hard work but for whatever reason my training hadn’t been nearly as quality as in my previous marathons. I was running my tempo runs 10-15 seconds slower than my typical. As an athlete this can be hard to swallow. When the big day arrives I want to have my very best, so naturally it is disappointing to only have my B, or C, game.

After the race the disappointment was setting in, especially when I saw how fast Sammy ran. I couldn’t believe that 2:06 was possible in those conditions. He clearly owned the day. It was also disappointing because I knew I had run with those guys before and had been able to hang till late, yet today I was six minutes back and six minutes back from my personal best.

It is going to take some time to figure out why my preparations weren’t as good as typical. Was it the pressure and anticipation of my first Olympics? Was it living apart from Sara? Am I just not as good as others in the heat and humidity? Was I trying too hard in practice or not trying hard enough? Did I not take enough time off after London? Should I have run London? The hard part about running is there are so many variables that come into play. Trying to identify the ones that really impacted your performance on the day can make your head spin.

A little less than twelve hours after I ran into the Olympic stadium I hobbled back in to take part in the closing ceremonies. I stood just feet away from the three marathon medalist as they were presented their medals to kick off the closing ceremonies. At first I was bitter, I had worked so hard, sacrificed so much, and wanted so badly to be up there, but by the time the Kenyan national anthem had finished its last note my bitterness had melted into inspiration. I could see myself up on that podium. I know that it is possible with God, but even if it is not God’s will for my life I will still praise Him and make the most of the gifts He has given me. What the Olympics has taught me is that I need to live a life surrendered to the will of God. It is my prayer that I will be able to have the same heart as Christ before He was nailed to the cross, “not my will, but Your will be done.”

Although things didn’t go as planned I still had a wonderful experience in Beijing! It was an amazing city and they did a fantastic job hosting the Olympics. The village was the nicest I’d ever seen, the transportation was on time and clean, the volunteers were always very friendly and helpful, and not to mention the BIRD’S NEST!!! It was unreal. The most beautiful track and field structure I have ever seen. The intricate design, the attention to detail, the lights…….everything was breathtaking! I was disappointed, but to leave Beijing with two medals is actually a dream come true. So many of my peers came and left with nothing. It’s funny in 2004 I would have gave my right arm for a bronze medal and this year I was displeased. I know I was physically prepared for gold, but sometimes it takes time for our mental to catch up to our physical. I was overwhelmed! I let everything get to me. My lane draw, the meaning of the meet, the weight of my country…everything! If it had been a normal meet and I felt a cramp in my leg, I would have completed the race and told my coach about it after, but this time was different! I made it get the best of me and I panicked! I knew what was on the line and for about 13 seconds I allowed it to get me out of my game.

It’s over now and Christine and Shericka are the gold and silver medalists. I am thrilled for them because I know like me, they worked hard and prayed for this moment as well. Four years only seems far away now but I remember how quickly the last four passed and I just can’t wait, God willing, to have the opportunity again. I know there are a lot of meets and Championships in the interim and I hope to have success there as well. However right now I’m just counting my blessings and they far outweigh any negative I could think of!

Until next time……

The 2006 Olympic giant slalom champion from Torino got a preview of Olympic spirit, Summer Games style, experiencing the sights and sounds with NBC both in the stands and on the streets of Beijing.

“Beijing was a blast. It was incredible to experience all of the athletes stepping up to the challenge while the whole world is watching! Many records were broken, many hearts were broken, and being there I was able to experience them at a whole different level,” said Mancuso who hosted daily segments for NBC throughout the Games. “I felt like I was a part of the Games, and at times, almost too involved for being just a spectator. All of the athletes have inspired me tremendously and I really look forward to my chance to take the world’s stage in Vancouver!”

Highlights include training with beach volleyball gold medalists Misty May-Treanor and Kerri Walsh, watching Michael Phelps win his first of eight gold medals, attempting to move wrestler Rulon Gardner and having her downhill speed suit made into cashmere and more.

Relive the excitement of Beijing along with Mancuso in video at www.nbcolympics.com and through her blog posts, complete with extensive photo galleries at www.juliamancuso.com.

As I searched for my friends from the Team and athletes I recognized, it hit me that the Olympics started without me, went on without me, and ended without me. It’s all over and now everyone is coming back to their parades and parties, telling their funny stories and showing off their medals.

After the pain of the past two months, I am a bit envious of their experiences over the same time span. But I think that what makes it all so much worse is that there were just so many moments balanced on the edge of a knife. If just one of those moments had gone my way I would have been there.

Added to that is the betrayal I felt and when I found USA Swimming actively fighting against me. A radio talk show host told me that my trust of them was my first mistake. And perhaps it was. I would not have wasted so much time naively waiting for the leadership of USA Swimming to appeal the entries or work to put me on the team as they had told me they would. It’s a lesson I won’t soon forget and hopefully others will learn from what happened to me and take a more active role in protecting their interests.

Nothing can make up for the loss of that Olympic experience. I’m sure that at some point I will think of the Olympics and Swimming and not feel so hollow but it probably won’t be soon. All I’m left with are the decisions I have to make to pursue what is right. Not because this situation will ever be made right, we passed that point long ago, but because it is the right thing to do.

I have still been enjoying watching the Olympics post swimming. I really got excited for the American women’s beach volleyball team of May-Treanor and Walsh. They were really the class of the Olympics and were the first team to ever win two Olympic gold medals in a row. I watched most of their matches and cheered the whole way. What a dominating performance.