Alberto Salazar, a world-renowned track coach who is known for training four-time Olympic Champion Mo Farah, has been banned from competition for the next four years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency according to NBC Sports. Salazar and endocrinologist Jeffrey Brown were banned by the USADA for “possessing and trafficking testosterone while training top runners at the Nike Oregon Project (NOP).”
“The athletes in these cases found the courage to speak out and ultimately exposed the truth,” said USADA Chief Executive Officer Travis T. Tygart. “While acting in connection with the Nike Oregon Project, Mr. Salazar and Dr. Brown demonstrated that winning was more important than the health and wellbeing of the athletes they were sworn to protect.”
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The world championships are going on this week and three of Salazar’s runners were scheduled to compete on Tuesday. The ban began on Monday and his credentials for the world championships were taken away. Shortly after he was informed of the ban, Salazar released a statement.
“I am shocked by the outcome today. Throughout this six-year investigation my athletes and I have endured unjust, unethical and highly damaging treatment from USADA. This is demonstrated by the misleading statement released by Travis Tygart stating that we put winning ahead of athlete safety,” he said. “This is completely false and contrary to the findings of the arbitrators, who even wrote about the care I took in complying with the World Anti-Doping code:
“‘The Panel notes that the Respondent does not appear to have been motivated by any bad intention to commit the violations the Panel found. In fact, the Panel was struck by the amount of care generally taken by Respondent to ensure that whatever new technique or method or substance he was going to try was lawful under the World Anti-Doping Code, with USADA’s witness characterizing him as the coach they heard from the most with respect to trying to ensure that he was complying with his obligations.’”
“I have always ensured the WADA code is strictly followed. The Oregon Project has never and will never permit doping. I will appeal and look forward to this unfair and protracted process reaching the conclusion I know to be true. I will not be commenting further at this time.”
Salazar, 61, is also known for being a world-class runner. He’s a three-time winner of the New York City Marathon and he won the Boston Marathon winner in 1982.
