For those of you coming to this article hoping for a long diatribe about the problems I feel and have with how the money is rolled out in the Arnold Championships. You’re a little late.
I spent some time talking with Mark Canella and it appears that Tatiana was subjected to drug testing which makes much of my article false and out of line. When that happened I don’t know. I sat right next to her platform for the entire session and saw her leave without a drug testing agent. That doesn’t mean I didn’t miss her get pulled for testing though I don’t know how I missed it.
The premise of the article was simple. I want to see clean, strong American lifters rewarded for their work and their effort with the biggest cash prize available in the USA today. If a foreign lifter comes over on their own accord and wins the money and is also tested, good for them. It appears that was not the case however and that a USAW official brought Tatiana over and worked on her behalf to make that happen. That has nothing to do with the Columbus Weightlifting Club nor with the majority of USAW at large.
The article was rooted in frustration about a lifter being begged to come lift at the Arnold when the community wasn’t there to see her anyways and all she did was take from American lifters.
I apologize to Mark Canella and the Columbus Weightlifting Club for the inaccuracies and also to USAW at large. I am re-writing the post as we speak with Mark Canella to ensure it is correct. There are still problems with international lifters in the last 3 years coming and taking the prize money while we beg them to come. However, that article is for another time and place.