Mo Farah is set to be investigated by the UK Athletics board following doping allegations made against his coach, Alberto Salazar. The accusations were made last week as part of a BBC investigation which argues that Salazar had violated anti-doping rules in association with US record holder, Galen Rupp.
The chairman of UK Athletics, Ed Warner has confirmed they will be assessing Farah’s medical data to rule the Olympic runner out of the allegations. In a press conference Warner said, “we need to make sure there’s nothing else there we haven’t seen, we’re not aware of, or hasn’t been analysed.” It has become clear that the UKA believe Farah to be innocent and have suggested that he should leave the coach and the scandal behind.
Innocent until proven guilty
This news follows Farah’s withdrawal from the Diamond League race in Birmingham last Sunday. It has been revealed that Farah’s agent knew about the allegations against Salazar for over a month. In a press conference following his withdrawal, Farah stated that he had withdrawn his entry due to the scandal which had left him “emotionally and physically strained” and unable to focus on the race ahead.
“I haven’t done anything but my name is getting dragged through the mud”
Nevertheless, despite calls for Farah to leave Salazar, he has confirmed he will remain to be trained by the US coach unless conclusive evidence prove that the allegations were true. It is understood that Farah is now over in the States to seek some answer from the man at the centre of the scandal.
It does not however, look good for Salazar. In the BBC programme, Panorama, Salazar has supposedly violated anti-doping rules dating back to 2002. During this time, seven members of the Nike Oregon Project have raised their concerns about his conduct to the US Anti-Doping Agency. The allegations involve the use of testosterone, asthma and thyroid medications, which Galen Rupp has also been linked to.
US distance runner, Kara Goucher added her voice to the scandal last week when she told the BBC that Salazaar encouraged the use of a thyroid drug to aid her weight loss after having a baby in 2011.
Kara Goucher on the BBC report on Alberto Salazar, after being told Galen Rupp is the most drug tested US athlete, “So was Lance Armstrong.”
— Nick Zaccardi (@nzaccardi) June 3, 2015
Despite the growing speculation though, both Salazar and Rupp haved denied any involvement. For Farah’s sake, I hope he is innocent. If he is, the right move would be to drop Salazar as his coach and leave the scandal behind him as soon as he can. If the allegations are true, Farah is going to have trouble outrunning it, no matter how skilled he may be.
