Oh what a tangled web we weave: The case of Jerome Millet
Jerome Millet, resume padder
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According to the list of entries for this weekend’s Mt. SAC Relays east of Los Angeles, one Jerome Millet is entered in the masters 110-meter hurdles — a race reserved for ages 40 to 50. Jerome doesn’t turn 40 until May 27. He’s confirmed this to me. But that’s the least of the issues regarding this French-born gentleman who helps coach soccer and track in Southern California. (I introduced him on April 3.) Over the past two weeks, world-class track statisticians have checked their dusty databases and assailed Jerome’s athletic claims. Among them: that he hurdled in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics. He did not. This T&FN message board thread is not for the faint of heart. It includes smarmy explanations by Jerome that “I was not aware of the importance of the term ‘olympian.’ ” (Which he neglects to capitalize.) This didn’t amuse Cal State Los Angeles, one place where he coaches. It revised his online biography, which listed Jerome as an Olympian until a week ago.
Jerome’s old Whittier College bio is still online here:
It says: “Jerome Millet is the Men’s Soccer Assistant Coach responsible for goalkeeper training and conditioning. Jerome is a former track and field Olympian having competed in the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona in the 110m hurdles. He is a three-time French National Champion and a Masters European Champion. He was also an All-American at Kansas State.”
The Olympic claim? Jerome says he actually took part in the French Olympic Trials and mistakenly thought that made him an Olympian. (By the same token, I guess I am, too! I was a finalist in the 120-yard high hurdles in 1972 at the regional Junior Olympics in Burnsville, Minnesota. Dang headwind kept me from making the national JO’s!)
This Whittier College soccer bio still says Jerome ran at Barcelona. But another Web site says Jerome competed in the 2000 Sydney Olympics. It also refers to him as “Cal state San Marcos track coach.” (Don’t tell Steve Scott!)
Jerome’s revised claim, with several typos, appears on the current Whittier College track coach bio site:
Jerome Millet is a former trail olympic’s athlete who is entering his second year at Whittier. He coaches the hurdles, multi events, and pole vault. He competed for Kansas State University and was an All-American. He is a three time French National Champion and two time defending Masters European Champion in the 110 Hurdles.
Dang! There’s that All-American claim again. Another fairy tale. According to the T&FN message board, the top eight finishers in the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships are accorded All-American status. But Jerome was not a finalist in 1991, when he ran for Kansas State. In fact, Kansas State lists all its indoor and outdoor track All-Americans. Jerome isn’t on the list.
One expert told the T&FN mesage board: “(Jerome’s bio) also says he was the French National Champion three times; in fact he was never the French National Champion.”
His last claim is OK — being a Eurovets M35 hurdles champion.
But my favorite fib is what he told event organizers of the masters 110 hurdles race at Mt. SAC — that his all-time best in the 110 hurdles was 13.52.
Statnuts looked high and low for any 13.52 ascribed to Jerome Millet. None was found. (His best mark on record is 13.97 from 1994.)
But Jerome helpfully noted: The 13.52 was wind-aided!
Then statnuts looked high and low for a windy 13.52 under his name. No dice.
Finally, Jerome fessed up: “(I) competed in 1987 in Poznan for a dual meet representing french national high school team against poland hs team..run 13.52 wind aided +4.5 M/S as Polish had some 17 year old competitors in their team.”
So at age 18, he ran a windy 13.52 over high school highs. Hoooooookay!
A little after noon Saturday at Mt. San Antonio College, Jerome will line up against his elders (but not Karl Smith, a recent scratch due to a practice injury). Jerome will no doubt get three steps between hurdles (making him a god in my eyes). But he won’t be favored against the likes of David Ashford, Don Drummond, Henry Andrade, Rich Benoy, Richard Holmes and Rod Jett.
Ashford is the M40 world record holder. Andrade was a 1996 Olympian.
They got their titles the old-fashioned way. They earned them.
13 Responses
It amazing to me that in this day of technology and access to information over the internet, none of the Colleges, or College, Mr. Millet works for bothered to check his credentials at the time of his hiring. I would love to work for a Junior College or College and I always get shined because I don’t have a Bachelor of Science degree ( I do have my Associates from the College of Southern Idaho). You would think with my experience successfully coaching and consulting youth and high school athletes and with my own experience competing in the throwing events, I could land a position. Folks like this really chap my hide when I hear they may have lied and recieved a coaching position from someone who my be more qualified and dedicated, and mind you, he still maybe qualified to coach even though he padded his resume, but if this story is true, there is a moral and character issue in question. An institution of learning and athletes in general, should always have an honest coach or mentor to know that he, or she, will always be looking out for the best interest of the school and the athletes well being, physically and mentally. If you start lying about this kind of stuff, what else is lurking in the dark? Most likely nothing…but one has to wonder.
Ken,
Excellent job of ferreting out the details on the life & times (pun intended) of Jerome Millet.
Tooo funny!
Guess he was caught-up in pipe dreams too. Ken , you remind me of two ferrets I owned : Panthro & Jewel. They know how to discover everything..As in there nature 🙂
I’ve never met Jerome, but I’m sure he must have considered the consequences of deliberately deceiving his employers and unknowing fans. I for one was very impressed and actually put in extra work after hearing that he was taking Dexter McCloud’s place in the Mt.Sac event. His credentials raised the bar in an already stacked field that Mr. Richard Holmes worked so hard in putting together.
All that aside, maybe what Jerome meant was that he was a part of the Olympic Process (trials included)…
KARL ,YOU ARE ALWAYS PREPARED, FOR WHATERVER NEW KID SHOWS UP ON THE BLOCK.MY BEST TO YOU, AT THE MEET.
Jerome millet was and kind of still is my coach…and since day one I knew something fishy was going on cause one of my teamates and I decided to search him since he said he had been an Olympian. So we searched and searched and all we found was one result where his name showed but he didn’t compete and another of a time of 14 or 15 in da 110 Hurdles…
Jerome knows his stuff and is a good coach but since he lied to get a job especially at the college level I believe that is wrong
The previous anonymous comment was by my former Track and Field teammate this past season.
Jerome was somewhat of my college coach as well.
He constantly claimed to have competed in the Olympics with France, but when we looked him up one day, we found no record of him being an Olympian ever.
I will say that he knows his stuff when it comes to hurdles because he trained another of my teammates who made it to the CA State Finals. But that is about all he knows in my eyes. He attempted to give high jumpers and 4×100 relay runners pointers, none of which helped and if anything hurt the athletes from what I saw during practices.
His favorite thing to comment on was how Americans think they’re better than the French and that’s why France beats the US in the Olympics because they actually practice their relay handoffs unlike the US who feels they’re good enough and don’t need the practice.
I also have never seen him run or jump over a hurdle in the past year that I have known him.
He’s very cocky and arrogant and thinks he knows everything about everything.
to the previous post! I would simply answer this guy is wrong by saying coach jerome knows only about hurdles! he qualified a girl who ranked 5th at the CA state in the heptathlon. And this athlete never throws before in her life or never jump hj so his knowledge about multi-event is evident previous poster!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!and he s not cocky at all! one guy frustated by his performance!!!
Jerome does know a lot about hurdling and multi event competitions as evident with his success, albeit exaggerated a bit, however it is not okay to lie about such major accomplishments. The things he actually did accomplish deserve praise in themselves but now pale in comparison to what he built himself up to be making them irrelevant. The fact is he is a good hurdles and soccer coach but one must call into question a man’s integrity when he will pad his resume with such false claims.
Post #8, either a huge Millet fan or millet himself.
Maybe both?
Ok stop. Sure he lied about the whole track and field olympian stuff but what about his other major accomplishments? For one, he was the french national teams goalkeeper! His main purpose was being a goalkeeper, not some huge track star. Who cares if he lied? It wasnt that big of a deal. Now Coach Jerome is teaching youth and adults in cal state. He’s helped so many people and for what? to spread the love of the game and to just help those who want to be better (and what better way to do it than with a national level player). Dont make it so political, its all a game. Dont take away all the fun. And for those of you who dont know him at all,(to post #7)contact him personally and ask him why he lied. Im sure you’re just dying to know since you think he’s just so “cocky and arrogant and thinks he knows everything about everything”.
I’m sorry but Coach Jerome is an awesome guy and an amazing coach.
Anyone who has no sin in their life should step forward and throw the first stone…..this is a men that has helped and changed many kids life’s….who cares about when or what ….hes heart is in the right place.
Keep going Coach….
I don’t understand how people can defend someone whose resume is a complete lie. Some of us have to work hard to achieve each line of our resume. It is frustrating to have one’s “accurate” credentials overshadowed by someone else’s “fabricated” resume. Bottom line is that he lied to get jobs and now has those jobs to cite as qualifications for future jobs. He seems to have gotten away with it and, to this day, charges youth players high training fees. So, the real question is where do we go from here? What, if anything, do we do about it? Personally, I don’t think anyone will do anything. They’re too busy bragging about their trainer’s fake resume so they can be cool by association.
Anonymous Post #10, You being too ashamed of your own statements to post your name shows that you recognize that lying one’s ass off on their resume is wrong. I encourage you to make a decision in your life to start doing what’s right, it’s never to late to change, it’ll be the best decision you’ll ever make.
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