SALAZAR BANNED! WADA to Investigate NOP Athletes

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Coach and former Boston and New York marathon record holder gets 4 year ban for nefarious activities with performance enhancing drugs. https://deadspin.com/nike-running-coach-alberto-salazar-hit-with-four-year-a-1838647652

[SnarlyMarly]

They’ve been waiting for him to cross over the gray area and they don’t give lifetime ban?!

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Hopefully it's an effective lifetime ban. He'll be 65 when he's reinstated. And he's said all along that he would retire once Rupp was done. I don't think Rupp will go past 2020.

[RandMart]

I saw that on ST earlier, and wondered which link to post over here

NYT & WaPo are pay-walled
BBC & Guardian led with "Mo Farah's coach"
USA Today is free but garbage

Nice to see that you chose Deadspin

[Arrojo]

This saddens me. Not the ban itself if he deserves it for his nefarious activity. But I’ve always been a fan of his, since he is my age and grew up literally one town over. I knew him when he was a high school track star, and of course winning that great ‘82 Boston marathon.

[RandMart]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wZt0H1SU5K8

[tenacious1]

https://www.letsrun.com/news/2019/10/nike-oregon-project-coach-alberto-salazar-gets-four-year-doping-ban-from-usada/

I think that's the most positive article I've ever read about someone being banned. It's a little weird.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

This saddens me. Not the ban itself if he deserves it for his nefarious activity. But I’ve always been a fan of his, since he is my age and grew up literally one town over. I knew him when he was a high school track star, and of course winning that great ‘82 Boston marathon.

Also the same age and I get where you are coming from. I saw him win NCAAs as a junior, beating world record holder Henry Rono, which launched him into stardom. Had some mixed feelings when he was at his peak, admiring what he did but thought he was arrogant. Admit jumping up and down cheering for Pfitzinger while watch the 1984 Olympic Trials marathon, where Pfitz upset Salazar.  NOP started rather modestly 20 years ago, and seeing Rupp and Mo take silver and gold in London at the time was a huge highlight. But I remember thinking, well I hope they're clean. I enjoyed his book 14 Minutes but a year or so later when he went after Gabe Grunewald and other athletes or coaches at USA nationals, he seemed unhinged. And then the ProPublica piece came out.

[i am party]

This saddens me. Not the ban itself if he deserves it for his nefarious activity. But I’ve always been a fan of his, since he is my age and grew up literally one town over. I knew him when he was a high school track star, and of course winning that great ‘82 Boston marathon.

Yeah, sad and disappointed.

He was all over the running magazines in the 80s when I was running in HS.

[RandMart]

https://runningmagazine.ca/the-scene/albert-salazar-and-nike-respond-to-doping-sanctions/

Nike is supporting Salazar in the wake of the USADA decision:

“Today’s decision has nothing to do with administering banned substances to any Oregon Project athlete. As the panel noted, they were struck by the amount of care Alberto took to ensure he was complying with the World Anti-Doping Code.

“We support Alberto in his decision to appeal and wish him the full measure of due process that the rules require. Nike does not condone the use of banned substances in any manner.”

[nadra's babydaddy]

[nadra's babydaddy]

[Coyote Mas Loco]

From NYT -


World Track Moves to Cut Off Alberto Salazar After Doping Allegation

At the international track and field championships, he was barred from facilities, and his athletes were told they could not communicate with him.


DOHA, Qatar — Track’s world governing body moved quickly Tuesday to distance itself from Alberto Salazar, the famed American coach whom United States antidoping officials barred for four years for administering banned substances and tampering with antidrug protocols.
Salazar was at the world track and field championships in Doha, but immediately became a persona non grata, a remarkable downfall for a titan of the sport.
Well before dawn, the integrity unit of the International Association of Athletics Federations, track and field’s governing body, revoked Salazar’s coaching authorization, effectively barring him from being trackside and from communicating with his athletes from the Nike-sponsored program at the center of the American antidoping ruling issued Monday.
World track officials issued an email advisory to athletes about Salazar, and to be sure the message got through representatives fanned out to team hotels to deliver letters to ensure the repercussions of associating with the tarnished coach were made clear. No more contact, no more last-minute pep talks, no more advice, or the athletes themselves would face punishment under global antidoping agency rules.
“We moved as soon as we found out,” David Howman, the chairman of the athletics integrity unit, said in an interview. “We’re used to working through the night.”
Shortly before midday, the United States track and field governing body confirmed it had acted upon the international federation’s recommendation and taken back Salazar’s credentials, barring him from all championship sites, including training venues and official hotels.
Salazar, who denies all the allegations against him, was reported to have left town shortly after the ruling, which detailed violations that included trafficking in testosterone, tampering with the doping control process and administering improper infusions of L-carnitine, a naturally occurring substance that converts fat into energy.
Even after allegations of wrongdoing first surfaced in 2015, Salazar, head coach of the Nike Oregon Project, continued to loom large. He has trained stars such as Mo Farah of Britain, a four-time Olympic champion on the track; Galen Rupp, the top American marathon runner; and Sifan Hassan of the Netherlands, who set a world record in the women’s mile in July and just this weekend won gold in the 10,000 meters in Doha.
“I am shocked to receive the news of today’s ruling, especially during this time in which I am fully preparing for my next race in the world championships in Doha,’’ Hassan said in a statement. “This investigation is focused on the period before I joined the Oregon Project and therefore has no relation to me. I was aware of the ongoing investigations when I joined the team and have always had a clean conscience, knowing we are being monitored to the absolute fullest by USADA and WADA,” the American and world antidoping authorities.
The mood at a downtown hotel housing the British delegation was somber, with officials locked down in talks, figuring out how they would deal with the verdict.
Neil Black, the British team’s performance director and a private therapist to Farah, Britain’s most decorated track and field athlete, had declared Salazar a “genius” while U.K. Athletics’ review into Farah’s relationship with Salazar had found no reasons to be concerned.
Farah remained with Salazar until 2017, before he decided to return to Britain, a move that took place four months after Salazar was secretly charged with violations by the United States Anti-Doping Agency.
“I’m relieved that USADA has, after four years, completed their investigation into Alberto Salazar,’’ Farah said Tuesday. “I left the Nike Oregon Project in 2017, but as I’ve always said, I have no tolerance for anyone who breaks the rules or crosses a line. A ruling has been made, and I’m glad there has finally been a conclusion.”
The need to work quickly was obvious. Two of Salazar’s athletes — Clayton Murphy and Donavan Brazier — run in the 800-meter final Tuesday night.
“We moved as soon as we found out,” David Howman, the chairman of the athletics integrity unit, said in an interview. “We’re used to working through the night.”
Shortly before midday, the United States track and field governing body confirmed it had acted upon the international federation’s recommendation and taken back Salazar’s credentials, barring him from all championship sites, including training venues and official hotels.

 

[RandMart]

Ahh, going the old Bobby Valentine route

[Coyote Mas Loco]

Not even a meme, this is real from Doha today:

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EFyphdMU0AIuRlR?format=jpg&name=medium

[nadra's babydaddy]

bwahahahaha!

[RandMart]

https://deadspin.com/banned-running-coach-alberto-salazar-briefed-nike-ceo-m-1838671744

The agency’s report has also revealed a shocking aspect of Salazar’s scheme: he kept Nike’s top brass updated on his doping experiments.

***

Never underestimate a rich person’s ability to commit evidence of crimes and malfeasance to email.

[Coyote Mas Loco]

The twitterverse and social media responses are interesting, if not predictable. Athletes from other programs are outspoken and throwing shade. They've known for a long time that the outfit was, well shady. Athletes with NOP are distancing themselves from Salazar (saying they were actually coached by Pete Julian), while others (like Jordan Hasay) are saying that he's a good guy.

[RandMart]

... others (like Jordan Hasay) are saying that he's a good guy.

Her braids are wound too tight, and it's affecting her judgement

[nadra's babydaddy]

It's interesting to see the split with athletes who are rejoicing and calling for his head vs. those who are all ''OMGSOSADFORHIM!!".   Pretty easy to tell what their shoe of choice is