As a quick note this evening, one of the big questions that has been raised is what would Karen O’Connor do to avoid a conflict of interest if David was hired as coach of the US Eventing Team? I had a chance to speak with Karen tonight and she explained David’s application to the USEF includes the explanation that she would retire from riding for the US Team. As Karen said:
“If David does get this job, I would definitely no longer apply for team competitions.”
Karen would essentially be removed entirely from the High Performance program (including grants) to avoid any conflict of interest. But, she would continue to compete internationally at non-team events, such as Rolex, Badminton, Bromont, etc. This is a great solution because it takes away the conflict of interest but still lets Karen compete at big events for her many fans around the world. The bad news is that if David is hired, the US loses Karen, and if Phillip is hired we lose Phillip. Go eventing
