Doha: World athletics chief Sebastian Coe insisted Wednesday the World Championships had not been ‘derailed’ by the Alberto Salazar doping case after the high-profile coach was banned for four years.
International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Sebastian Coe said the governing body had reacted swiftly after news broke that Alberto Salazar, the founder of the ‘Nike Oregon Project’ training group, had been suspended by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA).
“We’re dealing with it. It doesn’t derail the (World) Championships,” Coe told reporters. “It may for you guys, but in reality it’s not a broader issue for most people watching the championships.”
Several athletes who are members of the ‘Oregon Project’ are competing at the World Championships, and two have already romped to gold medals, the Netherlands’ Ethiopian-born 10,000m champion Sifan Hassan and men’s 800m winner Donavan Brazier of the United States.
Sebastian Coe however cautioned against casting a blanket of suspicion over athletes who were members of the ‘Oregon Project’, warning that to do so risked guilt by association.
“I’m sorry, I don’t live in that world where you just automatically assume the worst,” Coe said. “The reality of it is, the charges that have been laid by USADA are serious.”
Coe also defended Britain’s 2012 and 2016 Olympic hero Mo Farah for his long association with Salazar. Farah split with the ‘Oregon Project’ in 2017 after six years, but insisted USADA’s ongoing investigation into Salazar was unrelated to his decision.
The USADA meanwhile said Alberto Salazar used athletes as ‘guinea pigs’. Talking to German broadcaster ‘ZDF’, the US Anti-Doping Agency’s chief Travis Tygart used the term.
Salazar has denied ever doping his athletes and has said that he will appeal the ban.
“The athletes really had no idea what they were being given, the dosages, whether the methods were prohibited or not. They were simply sent to a doctor and told, ‘’you’ve got to listen to the doctor’,” Tygart stated.
Agencies
Alberto Salazar, Sebastian Coe, Athletes, Ban, Doping
