American Camille Herron holds 12 ultramarathon world records. But that doesn’t seem to be enough for this 42-year-old endurance athlete, since “Running Magazine” explains that she and her coach husband, Conor Holt, embellished her Wikipedia page. Worse, they would remove praise and exploits from the pages of the athlete’s competitors.
The magazine indicates that the couple would have removed phrases such as “widely considered one of the best trail runners of all time” from the Wikipedia pages of champions Kilian Jornet and Courtney Dauwalter. Sentence which was then added to its own page.
Since 2017, the couple have made more than 300 modifications on Wikipedia, mainly praising Herron’s page, but also removing titles and achievements from competitors. Spotted once, their account had been banned for conflict of interest, but Herron and Holt started their edits again with a new account.
Unmasked, the couple pays the consequences, since the Canadian sports brand Lululemon, sponsor of Camille Herron, broke off its relations with the marathon runner, as “Le Parisien” points out. “We are committed to maintaining fair sporting competition for all and we intentionally partner with ambassadors who embody these same values. After careful consideration and discussion, we have decided to end our ambassador partnership with Camille,” the brand wrote in a press release.
The athlete’s English Wikipedia page now includes the mention of this case: “she and/or her husband were found guilty of removing positive information about other athletes from Wikipedia while adding positive information about herself- even”.
Connor Holt, the husband, reacted, sending a press release, published in particular on Run Ultra. He says he acted alone, in part because “cyberbullies repeatedly deleted important parts of Camille’s life and biographical details.” He adds: “Camille had nothing to do with this. I am 100% responsible for this and I apologize to the athletes involved and the harm I caused. I was simply trying to protect Camille from the constant bullying, harassment and accusations she experienced during her running career, which had a serious impact on her mental health.”
The president of the Global Organization of Multi-day Marathoners (GOMU), Trishul Cherns, seemed unsurprised by the couple’s actions: “Unfortunately, the Wikipedia story is part of a pattern of interference. This couple has a history of trying to disrupt athletes, their reputations, their races and their performances by citing World Athletics rules that do not apply to ultramarathon and multi-day races. I was appalled by Camille’s criticism of athletes who question “her” records and her efforts to discredit them. This unsportsmanlike behavior is intimidating and mean-spirited and has no place in the broader ultramarathon community.”
