Banned coach’s athletes raise eyebrows
The shadow of banned coach Alberto Salazar continues to haunt the World Athletics Championships.
While Salazar has been sent home from Doha after being banned for four years over doping, his athletes continue to raise eyebrows on the track.
Sifan Hassan completed a never-before-seen double yesterday (AEST) when she won the 1500m to go with her 10,000m gold medal.
The Ethiopian-born Dutch runner is a member of Salazar’s Nike Oregon Project.
The US Anti-Doping Agency found that Salazar had been “orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct” while head coach of NOP.
Hassan’s unbelievable performances certainly had some of her rivals asking questions.
Her winning time of 3min 51.95 sec was not only a world championship record, but the sixth fastest in history.
Britain’s Laura Muir, who finished fifth in the 1500m final, said: “There is cloud … there is no avoiding that.”
Another finalist, American former world champion Jenny Simpson, said: “Anybody who knows anything about this sport knows there’s a black shadow over that group.”
Australia’s Jessica Hull, a semi-finalist in the 1500m in Doha, joined the Oregon group in June but said she hadn’t had anything to do with Salazar.
Another NOP athlete to win gold at these world championships, again in stunning fashion, was Donavan Brazier in the men’s 800m.
And Germany’s Konstanze Klosterhalfen, part of the Salazar training group, ran brilliantly in the final of the 5000m to claim bronze behind Hellen Obiri of Kenya.
Obiri is coached by Salazar’s long-time assistant coach Pete Julian, who also takes care of Hull.