Salazar linked to doping scandal before Mo Farah

American athlete Mary Decker

Alberto Salazar, the embattled coach of British Olympic champion Mo Farah, was recently the subject of a BBC Panorama investigation, which alleges that he was invovled in the doping of several of his athletes, Farah among them. Salazar also coaches elite American athlete Galen Rupp, who, it is alleged, he was involved in doping since Rupp was 16 years old.

Several of Salazar’s former colleagues, including one-time second-in-command Steve Magness have come forward to the BBC with information on Salazar’s wrongdoing. According to the documentary, Salazar often referred his athletes to medical professionals who would administer them doses of anabolic steroid testosterone, and thyroid medication they had no medical need for, in order to enhance their track-and-field performance.

Famed American athlete Kara Goucher, a known name in the world of running, was being coached by Salazar at the Nike Oregon Project, the shoe manufacturer’s group to promote long distance running. The group comprises several elite international athletes, Goucher, Farah and Rupp among them.

Goucher, the most iconic distance runner of the U.S.A, said in an interview that ….” He (Salazar) is sort of a win-at-all-costs person and it's hurting the sport.” Her husband Adam, also part of the Nike Oregon Project, has come forward with allegations against Salazar as well. Goucher parted ways with the Oregon project, she says, because Salazar failed to follow anti-doping regulations.

Salazar(C) with Mo Farah(R) and Galen Rupp at the 2012 London Olympics

Magness alleged he had seen medical documentation proving that Salazar had been involved in doping Rupp since the latter was a high-school going teenager.

However, this is not the first time doping claims have been in the vicinity of Salazar. American running legend Mary Decker Slaney qualified for the 5000m event in Atlanta in 1996, but her urine tests at the time showed she had a higher-than-permitted concentration of testosterone. This led to a ban for Decker-Slaney by the IAAF in 1997. Her coach at the time was Alberto Salazar.

While Slaney’s lawyers argued against the judgement and Slaney herself was reinstated by the USATF in 1999, with athlete, coach and team denying all claims, the incident led to a tightening of norms around the testosterone to epitestosterone (T/E) test used to test athletes prior to competition.

Farah pulled out of the recently held Birmingham Diamond League Games, and has not competed in any Diamond League games since. UK Athletics have declared they will be testing Farah’s samples as a precautionary measure, although they ‘do not believe’ he is involved in doping.