American ultramarathoner and multiple record holder Camille Herron, has been involved in a scandal that has enlivened the ultrarunner community. According to an investigation conducted by Canadian Running, Herron and her husband Conor Holt, a marathon runner and her trainer, appeared to be linked to two accounts, “Temporun73” and “Rundbowie,” through which they allegedly edited the Wikipedia pages of fellow runners such as Courtney Dauwalter e Kilian Jornet. How? “Downgrading” its achievements and victories but – at the same time – emphasizing Camille Herron’s achievements.
Among the allegations were those of the deletion of some claims about Dauwalter’s and Jornet’s successes and instead assigning a victorious and definitive version of one to Camille Herron herself. An example? Translated into Italian, the new description of her Wikipedia page describes her as “one of the greatest ultramarathoners of all time.”
In addition, profiles of athletes such as Des Linden and Yiannis Kouros would also appear among the modified profiles.
The accounts, previously banned for violating Wikipedia’s conflict of interest policies, were traced back to an IP address and email linked to Holt.
After the publication of the article and the subsequent steps of “dissing” and “hating” as per the web tradition of roaring keyboard lions, in mid-September one of Herron’s main sponsors, Lululemon, decided to discontinue its collaboration.
The brand justified the decision with a desire to uphold values of fairness and respect in sports competitions, something Herron appeared to have violated, according to the report.
Camille Herron has denied any direct involvement, unlike her husband.
Indeed, Holt would appear to have taken responsibility for the actions, stating that he wanted to protect his wife from criticism and bullying he received during his career, factors that had a significant impact on her mental health.
Conor Holt seems to have apparently disappeared from social media.
A press silence without much comment but with big question marks from the entire global ultrarunning community.
If in the golden years of advertising, posters, commercials and promotional messages were enough to give a strong and precise image of brands-and thus leaving little scope for any “slips” like this-today the driving force of the web and social in particular has made the image paradigm much more effective on the one hand but at the same time much more fragile on the other.
Public figures themselves-athletes, singers or businesswomen, no one excluded-have become the first protagonists of the latest corporate policies related to the image and values of the companies they represent.
And if the Internet leaves absolute and democratic freedom to be able to act in full autonomy, sometimes it has been necessary for companies to take initiatives with respect to situations created by their testimonials, as apparently happened in this case.