American sprinter Gabby Thomas' stance on 'doping coaches' is audacious, but starts valid conversation

Give Gabby Thomas credit for standing by her inflammatory words.

The triple Olympic gold medallist from the U.S. could have deleted the blazing hot take she posted to her Instagram stories this past Tuesday, then disavowed her own statement, or dissembled instead of explaining herself in plain English. 

But she didn't do any of that. She let that post stay on Instagram, in full view of her 1.1 million followers and countless more lurkers and drive-by viewers. Yes, IG stories expire after 24 hours, but the screenshots will live forever, or at least until data centres have drained us of our last drop of clean water.

It's tough to tell what, exactly, prompted Thomas to vent, but the world champion and Harvard grad wanted all of us to know she's fed up with track and field drug cheats, along with their enablers.

"Doping coaches should be banned for life from coaching in the sport. Whether you were banned while competing as an athlete or caught distributing as a coach [for some, both]," she wrote. "Idc idc idc … If you train under a coach who is known for doping … you are complicit."

Those accusations are backhanded and broad, but they're also straight-forward and specific. And the solution she proposes is audacious if you're a fan of Gabby Thomas, or draconian if she's not on your favourites list. Your reaction to her online comments likely depends as heavily on how you feel about her as it does on your stance toward doping.

But she is describing an extreme scenario. Imagine MLB fining and suspending Blue Jays manager John Schneider last year after Orelvis Martinez tested positive for clomiphene. Thomas' solution is far-fetched and likely unworkable.

She has a point, though.

Testing can catch PED users after they've taken