The Debate Over Matty Reed and Tyler Hamilton

April 9, 2010
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Matty and Kelly Reed and family

Olympian and professional triathlete Matty Reed sent out a “tweet” earlier this week that sparked a fierce, online debate. His Twitter post notified the world that he is working on his cycling with Tyler Hamilton. foundation repair . Hamilton is serving an 8-year-ban from cycling after twice testing positive for a banned substance. Today on Endurance Planet, Kelly Reed—Matty’s wife and coach—tackles the criticism and explains their reasoning for working with the controversial cyclist.

Click here to download audio.

Comments (2)

  • kevinpatrick says:

    Kelly Reed emailed to let me know that Matty has made a different decision regarding this issue. His comments are below:

    "From matt:

    I MADE A MISTAKE. this is no back pedal or coverup.

    i realize that every word i say- whether twitter, facebook, or at training-

    is being watched and analzyed. But it not just the incorrect or misleading

    words i used. it is also that my actions i realize support something I am so

    against, doping.

    tyler was giving me some advice after we ran into each other. he offered

    some advice and said if i wanted him to motor pace me. i did motor pace with

    him the last few weeks and it was really good. I am human and i made a big

    mistake. so you can say i am back tracking or i am covering something up.i

    realize that my actions, though the intention was to genuniely seek some

    knowledge, and ride my bike, portrayed much more than that and I am sorry.

    i twittered what i did with words that were wrong or misleading as he was

    "coaching" the motorpacing workout and i liked it.

    then when i used the wrong words of coach (as in coaching the workout) and

    said he was coaching me and i liked the workouts as he knows cycling and was

    looking forward to working with him as i transition to longer races/the next

    phase of my career…i meant i looked forward to doing more motor pacing

    workouts.

    the first couple of posts i made i was a bit defensive, as tyler is a

    friend. i believe what i believe. but what i didnt think about was the

    FACTS.

    no matter what i think or feel, he is serving an 8 year ban for drugs. for

    cheating. again that is the reality. no matter what i think about it.

    i dont approve of cheating. i didnt think that he was motorpacing workouts

    and me being there was that big of a deal. after all, he was a friend and is

    really good at motorpacing. I now see that it is not the action, but what

    the action portrays. By doing cycling stuff and talking about workouts with

    Tyler, I was indirectly saying I dont respect my position in the sport and i

    dont respect the reality that he is banned for something I am so against and

    is wrong in sport.

    I came to realize i made a mistake. by saying what i said in my posts it

    looked like i didnt respect our sports system and the facts of reality that

    he is banned for drugs. no PR person had to point that out to me. i am a

    smart man and hour by hour I started to see what I was expressing and by my

    actions, approving of. I respect this sport too much to do that.

    I watched a sprint race today and saw our sport for exactly what it is. a

    healthy, active fun sport. I never want to jepordize that. I made my

    statement this morning to state that i am not working with or seeking advice

    from tyler anymore. I realize what that can mean and i am not willing to do

    that. No matter what I think of him as a friend. My business of triathlon

    and my status as a professional athlete has to remain separate from any

    friendship.

    I hope this makes sense. i am trying to put into words what I feel and want

    to say. I guess I have to thank the forum and many close friends for making

    me see that I can not just do something though simple, but as a person who

    people look up to (and not just cause of my height), I must realize what

    those actions endorse or might support. I am not covering anything up.

    Havent since the beginning. At the beginning though, i was defending myself

    and my actions, cause i thought their were simple workouts and didnt realize

    that I was not respecting the reality of our sport system.

    i hope you all read this. this is not in formal wording. this is simply me.

    cheers, BIG MATTY REED- OUT"

  • Impressive insight and comments from Matt Reed.

    Best of luck moving into the next phase of your career!

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