Mo Farah to stay with doping-accused coach

Farah (L) with coach Salazar (C) and Galen Rupp at the 2012 London Olympics

British icon Farah, a double Olympic champion, has announced today that he will stand by his coach, marathoner Alberto Salazar. Salazar was the subject of a BBC Panorama investigation where he stood accused of doping several athletes.

Salazar, the coach at the Nike Oregon Project, run by the shoe manufacturing giants to promote distance running, coaches several elite athletes from around the world, among them Farah and American Olympian Galen Rupp.

Several athletes training under Salazar said to the BBC that they had been asked to dope by the coach, and prescribed medication for thyroid disorders to enhance their performance in addition to the anabolic steroid testosterone, which is banned in athletic competition.

Steve Magness, who was Salazar’s second-in-command, alleges that he saw evidence of Salazar doping Rupp since the youngster was a 16-year-old high schooler. Salazar has denied all allegations, as has Rupp, with the coach writing a strongly-worded 12,000-word letter rubbishing all allegations. Although Rupp and Farah have stood by their coach and refuted all allegations, several of Salazar’s staff and other athletes who trained under him maintain staunchly that they have proof of his involvement – among them is the U.S.A’s most iconic female marathoner, Kara Goucher, who was part of his training group at the Nike Oregon Project.

Farah, who described himself as ‘exhausted’ following the allegations, is under private investigation by Athletics UK, for whom Salazar is a ‘free consultant’, although they said in a statement they are confident Farah is clean. The athlete withdrew from several diamond league games ahead of the Birmingham edition.

"As someone I've worked with for many years, I feel I have to believe in Alberto and the evidence he has provided," Farah said in a statement yesterday. "Based on that evidence, I'll continue to work with him and hope now that I can focus on what I do best - training hard to win medals for my country."

The chief executive of Athletics UK, Niels de Vos, said the association “notes and respects” Farah’s decision to retain the services of his embattled coach. He said Athletics UK would take responsibility for “..all nutritional, medical and sport science elements of Mo Farah's training regime."

Farah is in training ahead of the IAAF World Championships to be held this August in Beijing, China, and will continue to do so as Athletics UK conduct independent investigations.