Top athletics coach banned
Doha, Oct. 1: The World Athletics Championships were rocked by a drugs scandal on Tuesday after top coach Alberto Salazar was banned for doping, dealing a fresh body blow to the image of track and field at the sport’s showpiece event.
Salazar, best known for coaching Britain’s fourtime Olympic champion Mo Farah, was handed a four-year ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) for a catalogue of drugs violations.
The 61-year-old Cubanborn American was suspended following a yearslong investigation by USADA and a prolonged battle behind closed doors, the agency said.
Jeffrey Brown, a Texas endocrinologist who treated many of Salazar’s athletes at his Nike-backed Oregon Project, was also suspended for four years.
Salazar, who denied the allegations against him, was barred from attending any World Championships venues after having his credentials deactivated, the IAAF confirmed Tuesday.
Salazar is not a member of the United States Track and Field Federation team in Qatar, but several athletes linked to his Nike Oregon Project training group are competing at the championships.
They include the Netherlands’ Ethiopianborn runner Sifan Hassan, who romped to victory in the women’s 10,000 metres on Saturday.
None of the athletes taking part at the world championships linked to Salazar have been found guilty of doping offences, and none were implicated in USADA’s 134-page summary of the case.
The Athletics Integrity Unit watchdog meanwhile notified athletes with links to Salazar to cease communication with the coach.
“Salazar has been stripped of his accreditation for this event, and that means that notices have to be given to the athletes under his coaching so that they don’t associate with him now that he has been banned,” AIU chairman David Howman told the Insidethegames.Biz sports business website.
ATHLETES PRAISED
In announcing the bans against Salazar and Brown, USADA praised other athletes for speaking out.
“The athletes in these cases found the courage to speak out and ultimately exposed the truth,” said USADA chief executive Travis Tygart.
● Salazar, best known for coaching Britain's four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah, was handed a four-year ban by the United States Anti-Doping Agency for a catalogue of drugs violations