Hassan has lost right to be angry

Sifan Hassan said she was angry. She had run a time over 1,500 metres that had only been bettered by athletes whose coaches were cheats, or under great suspicion of cheating, her own coach had just been given a four-year ban for doping, and now people were doubting her, too. how dare they? ‘i did my best here to show the world i’m clean, i’m always clean, i will be clean,’ hassan said. ‘i just want to show people that hard work can be better than everything.’ And how did she do this? By employing the skills of a coach accused of doping. What does that prove? hassan may have joined the disgraced nike Oregon Project after the period under investigation by the united States Antidoping Agency, but allegations about her coach Alberto Salazar were very much in the public domain by then, and well known inside the sport. Mark daly, who led the Panorama investigation that helped bring Salazar down, said he heard them when he began exploring doping in athletics in 2013. his programme was broadcast in June 2015. hassan joined the nike Oregon Project in late 2016. if she wanted to show the world how clean she was, why sign up with a coach accused of being dirty? At least wait for the uSAdA investigation to run its course. it was not as if Salazar was the only coach available. Just the only one getting such incredible improvements from his athletes. So, at that moment, hassan (left) surrendered her right to anger at any questioning of her feats. As Michael Johnson, a rare independent voice covering athletics for the BBc, said: ‘Running fast under a doping cloud does not actually make you clean.’ he’s right. hassan, the first athlete to win gold in 1,500m and 10,000m at a World championships, proved nothing in doha. That she ran the sixth fastest 1,500m in history only added to the negativity, given the names in front of her and the coaches who helped produce those performances. Jama Aden, coach of genzebe dibaba, was arrested on suspicion of doping in 2016, while Ma Junren is now widely believed to have doped to produce astonishing times from chinese athletes. The company hassan keeps is why there are questions, and her anger should be the least of our concerns. if nike-backed Paula Radcliffe could also find the time to explain to laura Muir, who finished fifth behind hassan, how uSAdA’s takedown of Salazar doesn’t help clean athletes, that would be enlightening, too.