Mark Philpott’s Post

Hurricane Beryls Legacy and Lessons. I just experienced my first Hurricane today since living in the Caribbean. That ride was like sitting on a wild stallion waiting for it to buck you off. Hurricane Beryl has unfortunately bucked many people off, and she is not done with yet, she is merely taking the weekend off. Humanitys addictive appetite for the next news cycle means that those unfortunately souls who have lost everything in the wake of Hurricane Beryl, their businesses, their homes, and in some cases, their family members are gone forever, and their predicament is quickly forgotten by most. Waiting for, and enduring a Hurricane at your zip code teaches you many lessons. In this short post I share seven. 1. In life no matter the level of society you may find yourself in, in any crisis you endure you no doubt will have choices to make. The number one choice should always be to protect your family. 2. Preparation and Planning are key to greater success. We have all heard it a million times, haven't we, "Fail to plan and you will plan to fail". We started to plan for Beryl several days before, making sure we had plenty of food, water, back up covers for windows, removing anything that could endanger life or limbs in the wind. 3. Positive Attitude. Fearing the worse is helpful to no one. Once our preparations were done we carried on life as normal. Continuing with your daily routine is something many don't understand brings peace and well being to your mind, body and soul. 4. Learn From The Lessons. Many in the Eastern Caribbean have lost everything in this vicious storm from Mother Nature. As the rebuilding process starts homes and businesses ought to be rebuilt better and stronger than before. 5. Mother Nature always wins. Learning not to try to control everything in your life brings with it much peace and serenity. Mother Nature teaches us this all of the time. What will be, will be. You can not fight back against 185mph winds. 6. Practicing Love Thy Neighbor. In a world and generation where we often ignore those other humans who live right next door to us, its in times like this that a comforting word, gesture or cuppa, can really help everyone. Don't be shy, or to selfish to reach out and to participate in an act of kindness. 7. The Sun will always come up again. No matter how bad that you think a situation is the sun will eventually rise again. As many now start to assess the cost, emotionally, physically, spiritually and financially of Hurricane Beryl there will be positive outcomes that you can choose to embrace if you want too. In closing, to everyone who has been devastated by this event so far my heart and understanding and compassion goes out to you. To those who could possibly encounter Beryl over the next few days, prepare now, take a breathe and keep those you love close to you. Moments in time are exactly that, moments in time. Stay safe everyone.

The Big Business Of Hurricanes. In three days time Aunty Beryl is coming to visit us, but it is not the kind of aunty one would normally imagine, nor want to visit. This Aunty Beryl is a destructive monster, she brings nothing good with her, and in her wake the devastation will change lives forever. If you have never experience a Hurricane in person consider yourself very, very lucky. This hurricane season the Caribbean where I live is expecting potentially the worst hurricane season in history. Forecasters are predicting up to 27, thats right, 27 named storms this season. (July through November) Already in the Eastern Caribbean we have seen Beryls destructive legacy. Grenada was flattened in minutes yesterday as the Cat 5 Hurricane showed no mercy. (picture below) This will be my first time in a Hurricane in this part of the world. It is very interesting to watch the locals, the businesses, the governments, at all levels, on how they go about preparation for such an event. Cancun where I live is the tourist capital of Mexico. Its record tourist numbers last year saw enormous growth in every sector of the community. Like our neighbors across the Caribbean Islands a hit from a hurricane can literally destroy peoples lives as well as their livelihoods. The famous hotel zone in Cancun sits at the edge of the Western Caribbean and on a good day tourists can walk out of their hotels room and be in the luke warm waters within seconds. This week the entire hotel zone consisting of over 100 properties are right in the firing line. A big hit would be devastating for this part of Mexico, and for the Yucatan Peninsulas largest city. Looking around town many of the newer builds have been built to hurricane standards. But there are many older properties which are remnants of days when the building codes were a lot less stringent, or even enforced. Prepping for a hurricanes arrival is big business for local industry. Home Depot is doing record sales as people rush to get everything to complete their Emergency needs kit. Supermarket trade is equal to that of Christmas week, or when people were panicked into buying during that virus lock down phase in other countries. (Mexico didnt lock its population down). Try to get hurricane protectors made for your windows and doors, how about coming back in a few months to get an order placed. Yes when a hurricane comes to town life changes. Priorities change for families and businesses. Mexico is all about family, and everyone is helping everyone get ready for what will be a memory little kids will never forget, and a time where their parents will lay awake, sweating and worrying without power, internet, or air conditioning. It doesnt matter how many hours sleep are lost in the coming days, or even if the property is damaged somewhat, the only thing that matters is that no lives are lost. We await you Beryl.

There Is A Doping Pandemic In Track and Field And Where Is Its President? Sebastian Coe is the President of the World Athletics organization. Here is Sebastian Coe on the job today pictured here meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy of Ukraine on Constitution Day. Why you might ask is the President of World Athletics sticking his head into politics? Well, when your ambition is to become the President of the IOC (International Olympic Committee) thats what you do.........meanwhile... Across the track and field world of late we have seen an explosion of doping cases in Kenya, what is Sebastian Coe doing about that? We have seen Michael Johnson an ex USA track star launch his plans for his own funded and resourced Track Series named Grand Slam starting in 2025. Why hasnt World Athletics done something like this to give the elite of the sport and the sports fans what they want? Why do we have track and field athletes across the world having to work jobs in addition to their training to be able to afford to get to the Olympic Games? What is Sebastian Coe doing about that? Now in his third and final term as President of World Athletics, Track and Field fans across the world still can not access a simple online portal to watch track and field events on demand. What is Sebastian Coe doing about that? As is the case with many of our notoriously political organizations a lot of time, and money is spent of re elections of those in power so they appear untouchable. Its not good enough that the stars of track and field are not household names, and that we only get to see them once or twice a year. There is so much that can and should be done to make Track and Field a prominent global sport beyond where it is today. Like with most organizations, you need to have the right people in charge who are truly prepared to remain focused on that goal, and who are not just concerned about their own profiles and future. #saynottodrugsinsport

Todays Sporting Drug Cheat Is - Helen Daniela Baltazar from BOLIVIA A Marathon runner and former national champion now Helen Daniela Baltazar joins the growing list of disgraced athletes who took performance enhancing drugs and got caught cheating by the Athletes Integrity Unit. Helens favorite cocktail was Oxandrolone, Stanozolol. Banned now for 5 years Helen will have time to reflect on why she decided to cross the line and become another athlete who was unable to compete fair and square in the world of sport. We are just 28 days away from the start of the Paris Olympic Games and I urge more needs doing to ensure that as many cheats as possible do. not get the opportunity to fraud us all in France. #saynotodrugsinsport

Tucker Carlson And Australias Opportunity. Tucker Carlson gave all Australians an opportunity to reflect and to awaken their thinking last night in Canberra about the very future of their country. He provided an opportunity for Australians to consider what is the best way for the country to proceed into their future, and who should they trust in that journey, other than themselves. He honesty reminded them that in time of their needs ,who they think are their best friends today, may very well not be there for them in the future. My article below speaks more about this potentially defining moment.

72 Year Old Sporting Drug Cheat - Robert Qualls USA Cheaters come in all shapes and sizes, nationalities and ages. But you have to really think what is in the mind of 72 year old Robert Qualls who took performance enhancing drugs, and got caught through a doping test when he participated in a World Master Games 5km competition. Qualls will serve a four year ban for his indiscretion and will be eligible to compete again when he is 76. Imagine being the grandchild of this man and his grandkids getting harassed by their peers in calling their granddad a cheat. It just goes to show, the desire to win is so great at every age of an athletes journey. Unfortunately the rise in doping among Masters aged athletes is another warning sign that the entire sporting landscape is littered with dishonest humans who want to win at all costs. We are really starting to see the epidemic levels of doping in world sport as testing becomes more frequent, and the levels of testing improve to be able to capture people who previously may have gone undetected. Just 29 days to go until the Paris Olympic Games gets underway. The oldest athlete at the Paris Olympic Games this year is likely to be a 69 year old equestrian athlete, lets hope that they are clean. #saynotodrugsinsport

Todays Sporting Drug Cheat Is Michael Brinegar. USA Today Michael Phelps has come out and said that the World Anti Doping Agency WADA can not be trusted to deliver fair and clean sport across the world. But hours before this press statement, his fellow countrymen Michael Brinegar was given a four year ban for blood doping. The United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada) said Brinegar, 24, had irregularities between July to September 2022 found in his Athlete Biological Passport. It said the highly "abnormal blood values" were "caused by blood doping". An independent arbitrator had cleared Brinegar of the violation but Usada appealed against the decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which has issued the ban. It means Brinegar, who swam 800m and 1500m events at the Tokyo Olympics, is ruled out of Sunday's final trial for the Paris 2024 US team. There are 30 days to go until the start of the Paris Olympic Games and my opinion is, it is going to be a circus. Dopers everywhere. #saynotodrugsinsport

Todays Sporting Drug Cheat Is - Beatrice Toroitich - KENYA The case of Beatrice Toroitich is somewhat incredible. The amazing thing is, that Toroitich has been caught cheating no less than three times since 2022. Torotich has been found to have used banned 19-norandrosterone, 19-norethiocholanolone, clomiphene and canrenone from samples taken out of competition on November 16, 2023 in Eldoret. As a result of her continued illegal behavior Toroitich has become the first Kenyan female athlete to be banned for life from Track and Field by the Athletes Integrity Unit. This is now the end of her running career. I for one applaud the AIU in banning this athlete for life, and I hope that it sends a very clear signal to others who continue to over step the line to the dark side of sport. We have just 31 days to go until the start of the Paris Olympic Games. Over 10´000 athletes will be competing in Paris. I remain hopeful that many of those who intend to cheat, who already are in the build up to the worlds premier sporting event will eventually get caught. I also remain hopeful that those athletes who choose to participate clean are in the majority and not the minority. #saynotodrugsinsport

Todays Drug Cheat is Track Athlete GIL ROBERTS - USA Gil Roberts, a member of the U.S. gold medal winning 4x400 meter relay team at the 2016 Rio Olympics, was handed an eight-year suspension after testing positive for banned substances for a second time, said the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) on Friday. An out-of-competition test taken by Roberts in September last year found multiple banned substances including ostarine which boosts muscle growth. A repeat offender, Roberts received a 16-month ban in 2022 after testing positive for andarine and ostarine. He also tested positive for a banned diuretic and masking agent in 2017 but avoided suspension after successfully arguing the substance entered his body by kissing his girlfriend, who was using a sinus medication containing the drugs. 35 days to go until the start of the Paris Olympic Games. #saynotodrugsinsport

Sporting Politics About To Claim Yet Another Young Athlete. Twenty year old US Track and Field sensation Erriyon Knighton has become a pawn in the civil war that is currently raging between the head of the United States Anti Doping Agency (#USADA) and #WADA (World Anti Doping Agency). Knighton tested positive for a banned substance back in April 2024, and was provisionally suspended. But first the back story. You will all remember the fall of #LanceArmstrong, the infamous professional cyclist who was brought to his knees, even confusing to Oprah Winfrey that he had taken performance enhancing drugs along with nearly every other professional cyclist at the time. Well the man behind that Armstrong case was the current CEO of the United States Anti Doping Agency (USADA) Mr Travis Tygart. Tygart has, over recent times, been very outspoken about the performance of the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) in light of the recent case of 23 Chinese swimmers who were confirmed to have taken some prohibited substances, and who were not sanctioned by the National Chinese Anti Doping Agency. Tygart demanded that WADA do a public enquiry on the Chinese case. Today China announced that nine of those swimmers will be competing in the #ParisOlympic Games. Then in April of 2024, 20 year old Erriyon Knighton (in picture) tested positive for a banned substance called Trenbolone. Trenbolone is well known among athletes as a way to aid muscle growth. After a so called independent review it was deemed that this substance had founds its way into Knightons system by means of ingesting contaminated meat. USADA's Travis Tygart then moved quickly and announced this week that Knighton was cleared of any wrong doing, and that he can compete in the USA Olympic Trials starting tomorrow, Friday June 21st, in Eugene, Oregon. In the past few hours WADA has released a press statement saying that they are now reviewing this case because they believe that there is no way that Trenbolone could get into Knightons system via meat contamination. If the WADA review is substantiated then they will take the case to the Court of Arbitration in Sport and seek a ban for Knighton. Now being a strong advocate for clean sport I am not wanting any potential cheat to get off scott free. However, what this political battle between USADA and WADA now does is throw this young mans reputation, mental health, and career / life into chaos. This for me is where the entire Anti Doping process gets it very wrong. This young man deserves a fair process. He doesn't deserve to be embroiled in , and to be a pawn in the civil war between these two parties. Why can't this be done in private, until there is a definitive outcome that all parties can then announce accordingly. Erriyon Knighton got fourth in the 200m final at the Tokyo Olympics as a 17 year old. Here is a few years later now facing his biggest life challenge yet, and its not on the track. We must do better.