Nicolas is going forward with a second appeal of his carding denial, after having been left off the 2005-2006 Athletics Canada (AC) carding list, and after losing his first appeal last month. AC chief Joanne Mortimore will hear the second appeal. In AC's rejection of the first appeal, as well as in published reports by Radio-Canada.ca, conflicting reasons have been given for the carding denial, proof that an inaccuracy or two could save anyone a world of explanation. The meat of AC's argument for the regular card denial is that Nic's performances have slipped markedly since 2003; that communication has been sporadic and that Nic never submitted a training plan for 2005. On the medical card question, AC argues that there was no documentation at the time of injury, and that team medical staff assessed Nic as healthy in Helsinki. Any layperson can see the circular contradiction here. If the reality is that an athlete injures him or herself, how do they come close to their personal best performances? Secondly, AC did indeed receive the training plan in question, proof of which was submitted with the 2nd appeal. On the medical issue, documents have been submitted showing medical treatments from AC accredited providers throughout the year, as well as other documents showing that individuals within AC were well aware of Nic's injury status. Furthermore, AC head coach Les Gramantik, in an article published November 17, 2005 by Radio-Canada.ca (available for viewing on our website), repeated that doctors in Helsinki "indicated the Nic was in perfect health". The injury in question was a groin pull, and anyone versed in that area understands that groin injuries are one of the toughest injuries to recover from for a sprinter. There are degrees of recovery from an injury of that nature; a team doctor with no prior knowledge of the specific case would arguably be more than hard-pressed to draw a "perfect health" conclusion. Be that as it may, the most difficult part of this whole scenario is that Nicolas put himself on the line in Winnipeg, testing his fitness and groin and risking aggravation, so as to gauge whether he could be of any assistance to the relay team in Helsinki. Having finished 3rd in Winnipeg, it was clear that despite running at less than 100%, he would be a factor as part of a 4 member squad. The fact that AC would use his participation in Winnipeg and Helsinki against him- Les Gramantik has stated that he would only qualify for a medical card if inactive for 4 months- is the height of folly. The fact that they would not make a card available- up to 79 cards are- to a former 2 time Olympian and world team member, is even worse. This past week, Nicolas had the following to say about this ongoing saga: "I will not let this go. Athletics Canada's stated mission is to support the athletes, not put up roadblocks and split hairs. It's not like we (Canadian athletes) receive huge sums of money from them. It was in my best interests to compete throughout the summer and earn a living. My agent had booked several meets for me to run in, that we had to cancel. I was unable to run due to my groin injury, so if Athletics Canada's position is that I really wasn't injured, that's insulting. The truth is they could choose to ignore the reality of the situation, but that doesn't mean it's going away." Chris Galakoutis 12/2/05
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