Loreen Barnett is a longtime fixture in the ITU's executive offices. She was Les McDonald's right arm in the early days of the ITU and continues to manage the ITU's day-to-day operations.

Now that the ITU has made its intentions known regarding the "Harry Wiltshire incident" we thought it prudent to divine the ITU's posture toward team tactics, and team responsibility for an athlete's race behavior. Ms. Barnett graciously agreed to answer our questions.

SLOWTWITCH:  Describing the posture of the ITU toward team tactics, are such tactics allowable as long as they aren't geared toward the specific sabotage of another's race?

LOREEN BARNETT: ITU supports positive and constructive team strategy.  Colin Jenkins and Simon Whitfield at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games is the prime example.  Tactics where teammates work together to support and/or protect each other should be part of the game.  However those which have a negative or potentially unsafe impact on an athlete’s performance would be a violation of ITU rules.

SLOWTWITCH:  Did anyone attached to the British squad, in addition to Harry Wiltshire, know what Wiltshire intended to do during the race in Pontevedre?

LOREEN BARNETT: We have no evidence to suggest that the athlete’s federation or staff were involved with a strategy that might have led to the unsafe and unsportsmanlike conduct.

SLOWTWITCH: Regardless of who among the British contingent knew of Wiltshire's comportment during the European Championships, does the British squad bear any responsibility for a team member's behavior?

LOREEN BARNETT: Triathlon is an individual sport so it's difficult to penalize the entire team for one athlete's actions, especially if there is no evidence to support this. 

SLOWTWITCH:  If team tactics are allowable in an ITU race, in what situations might it be appropriate for the other members of the team to be assessed a penalty in a race during which such behavior takes place?  Or, should punitive action always be levied only against the individual participant, if the offending behavior is taken solely on his own initiative?

LOREEN BARNETT:   This situation has been a lesson for everyone involved in the sport.  We have the rules to deal with this in individual cases but cannot make judgment where no evidence exists.  I’m confident that the technical officials will continue to manage the field of play in the safest way possible. 
 
SLOWTWITCH:  Does the ITU feel it has all the necessary rules embedded in its rulebook to police race behavior, and, if so, is there any specificity that the ITU intends to add to help teams understand the conduct expected of their members?

LOREEN BARNETT: Our technical people are continually upgrading the competition rules.  This matter will undoubtedly be considered during the next review of the rules.  At this time, I am confident the ITU Competition Rules and the jurisdiction of the Technical Officials are sufficient to ensure conduct of this nature can be managed to guarantee the integrity of the sport.

SLOWTWITCH: Will "blocking" on the bike be enforced any more tightly than it has been in the past?

LOREEN BARNETT: The ITU Technical Official will balance blocking on the bike with unsafe and unsportsmanlike conduct. This is provided for in the ITU Competition Rules. If unsafe and unsportsmanlike conduct comes into the team support concept of “blocking” within the cycling section of ITU events, it will receive the same scrutiny by ITU Technical Officials as the conduct during the swim or run sections.

SLOWTWITCH: Obviously it's cumbersome to have the ITU's executive board convene to vote on the minutiae of in-race behavior. Have their been, or will there be, any changes, streamlining, or new instruction, that allows technical, officials, or competition committees, or commissaires, to deal with such future behavior at a lower level?

LOREEN BARNETT: I am not sure cumbersome is the right word. I think we have a good system in place to handle significant matters such as this. It was time consuming but also healthy in terms of governance. All ITU events have a Competition Jury who manages appeals on site but for serious matters like this, things need to be managed.