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The elite British athlete, currently the World, Olympic and European champion in all categories from 5,000 to 10,000m, has said he feels "emotionally and physically drained", and this was the reason for his withdrawal from the Diamond League games held in Birmingham on the 7th of June.
Farah’s coach at the Nike Oregon Project, marathon runner Alberto Salazar, is at the centre of allegations revealed through a BBC documentary that he is involved in doping. Several athletes coached by Salazar in the past allege that he suggested they take thyroid medication and testosterone, prescribed by doctors known to him, in order to improve their performance.
A former aide of Salazar’s alleges that American athlete Galen Rupp was one of those doped by Salazar, and that Rupp had been on testosterone “since he was in high school.” The aide says on the programme that he saw medical documentation that indicated Galen was being doped on a regular basis since he was 16 years old.
Both Salazar and Rupp have completely denied all claims and accusations, and the USADA, as per its rules, has refrained from commenting on the situation.
Rupp is Farah’s training partner under Salazar and at the Nike Oregon Project, and was runner-up to Farah when he won gold in the 10,000m at the 2012 Olympics in London.
Farah has, for his own part, also denied claims of doping, and UK Athletics put out a statement earlier this week saying there was “no indication that Farah had been involved in doping of any sort.” The claims and accusations, however, have taken their toll on the athlete, who was due to run the 1500m event. He intended to return to the United States of America to “seek answers”, saying on Sunday that he had “... not been able to focus properly on today's race and after the events of the last few days I feel emotionally and physically drained.”
He intends to “get back into training” in time for the IAAF championships due to be held in Beijing this August, apologising to those fans and spectators who had purchased tickets to watch him in Birmingham.
At the previous edition of the games, held in Eugene, Oregon, Farah emerged victorious in the 10,000m category.
The next edition of the Diamond League, the Bislett Games, will be held in Oslo, Norway, following which the United States will again host League participants at the New York City Diamond League games.
