"When I began to think about coming back, I knew that because there had been questions in the past, many of which we considered to be unfounded, I knew that there would be questions about performance. Like there are questions about all kinds of performance, if it's a 100 metre dash at the Olympic Games or if it's the 100 metre free style at the Olympic Games, people will question good performances, and I doubt that I can perform well.
But in the off chance that I do perform well, I didn't want to leave any doubt, and so I reached out to Don and asked him to oversee this program, to be completely independent, completely removed, for me to do whatever he asked me, I would do whatever he asked me to do. I think it's a landmark program. I think it's the first time where an athlete can actually be totally validated in the chance that he's successful.
In my opinion is that Don Catlin is beyond reproach. He is one of the foremost researchers in the Anti-Doping Movement. His CV is a mile long and I don't need to try to repeat it, but I have told Don and I told him last night and I will continue to tell him this. Don I have myself, I have my bicycle and I have my cause, you come whenever and however you want to come in order to validate these performances. And I felt like that was an important part of this equation as well."
