Gail Devers Press Release (5/31/2006)
| From: | Gail Devers |
| http://www.gaildevers.com | |
| Contact: | Soury Communications, Inc. |
| Lonnie Soury – (212) 414-5857, (917) 519-4521, lsoury@aol.com |
For Immediate Release
BEST SELLING BOOK GAME OF SHADOWS FALSELY TIES OLYMPIAN GAIL DEVERS TO CONVICTED COACH REMI KORCHEMNY
Authors Mark Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams and Publisher Penguin Group Admit Falsity to Devers but Refuse to Issue Public Statement Clearing Her Name
(New York, NY, May 31, 2006) The best selling book Game of Shadows falsely links three time Olympic Gold Medalist Gail Devers to the biggest drug scandal in the history of professional sports. In a section entitled Cheat or Lose, the authors claim that famed track coach Remi Korchemny, indicted and convicted in the BALCO scandal, coached Gail Devers. The authors write that Gail Devers was, “Among his greatest Olympians…” The authors also claim that Devers presented Korchemny with a plaque at his 70th birthday party in 2002, reading “The Greatest Track Coach of All Time.” In fact, Devers has never been coached by Korchemny, never attended his 70th birthday party, and never presented him with a plaque of any kind. (See chapter 9, page 87)
Devers is a world-class track and field athlete who has competed for 25 years and rose to the top of her sport by winning three Olympic Gold Medals and competing in a record five Olympic Games. She has achieved this status through her talent, dedication and hard work, without ever using performance-enhancing drugs of any kind.
“When my husband told me my name was in the book Game of Shadows, I just assumed he was kidding. That was until I saw the look in his eyes and he repeated, ‘You have been implicated and linked to this scandal.’ When I read the section in the book, Cheat or Lose, concerning my connection to Remi Korchemny, which stated that, I, Gail Devers, was ‘among his greatest Olympians,’ I was devastated,” Devers said.
“How could I possibly be tied to steroid use and illegal activity, when I have spent my entire life dedicated to honesty and integrity in my track and field career?”
Upon reading the offending passage, only days after the book was released in bookstores across the country, Devers immediately contacted the authors. “I reached Mark Fainaru-Wada first and informed him of the false statements in his book. I asked him why he had not checked the facts before writing. He said he did not know how or why my name got there, and he would get to his desk and papers and get back to me.”
Devers next contacted the publisher. In a written statement, Penguin’s Senior Vice President of Legal Affairs and Corporate Counsel, Alexander Gigante, stated that the authors and Penguin “regret the factual error in the book regarding Ms. Devers’s association with Remi Korchemny” and steps had been taken “to correct the offending passage in future printings.” Gigante also claimed Penguin was “prepared to issue a press release acknowledging the error . . .”. Later, however, Penguin reneged. Gigante offered only a private letter of apology “to use to correct any erroneous media reports” but refused to “issue a national press release or place notices in national media.”
“The only explanation for Penguin’s refusal to issue a public correction of statements which it has already admitted are false while simultaneously offering a private written apology is to avoid the inevitable doubt this error will cast on the veracity of a book which the authors have publicly and repeatedly declared will ‘withstand any scrutiny.’ As a five time Olympian, Gail Devers has a large public following, not only in the United States but throughout the world. She is also a role model for young people, especially young girls. Her many fans deserve to know that she is the person they have always known her to be,” said Devers’s attorney, Caroline Heindel Burgos of Greenberg Glusker Fields Claman & Machtinger in Los Angeles.
According to Game of Shadows, Korchemny was the man who introduced BALCO president and CEO, Victor Conte, to the sport of track and field. “The relationship with Korchemny became Conte’s entrée into the world of top level sprinting…” American Track and Field Magazine’s website said of Korchemny, “It is now widely believed that Korchemny introduced his elite athletes to Victor Conte at BALCO, and that his training program included the use of illegal performance enhancing drugs.” In fact, some of Korchemny’s top Olympic athletes have either admitted using steroids supplied by him or have tested positive for using banned performance enhancing drugs and have been suspended from competing.
At the time of his sentencing, the United States Attorney’s office issued a statement explaining that “in pleading guilty . . ., Remi Korchemny admitted that between September 1, 2000 and September 3, 2003, while working as a track coach in the Bay Area, he distributed illegal performance-enhancing drugs to some of the Olympic-caliber track and field athletes whom he coached at that time.”
The book Game of Shadows covers the biggest drug scandal in the history of sports. On the front cover of the book it reads, “Barry Bonds, BALCO, and the STEROIDS SCANDAL that Rocked Professional Sports.”
The press statement, attorney letters, a personal statement from Gail Devers, and the US Attorney’s press release can be found at www.Soury.com. Gail Devers website is http://www.gaildevers.com/.
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