Alberto Salazar Hit With Doping Ban (Read 280 times)

wolvmar


UM 45 Ohio 23

    sorry about the poor formatting in first post.  Hopefully this is a little better...

     

    From the WSJ:

     

    Alberto Salazar, the Nike -backed distance-running coach who led British runner Mo Farah and American Galen Rupp to Olympic medals, received a four-year ban for orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct Monday following an investigation by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency.

     

    Dr. Jeffrey S. Brown, a Nike-paid consultant and endocrinologist who treated many of Mr. Salazar’s athletes, also received a four-year suspension. The two men worked with athletes who trained in the Nike Oregon Project, an elite group of runners headlined by Mr. Rupp, a two-time Olympic medalist who won bronze in the marathon at the 2016 games in Rio de Janeiro.

     

    Two independent three-member panels of the American Arbitration Association determined that Mr. Salazar, 61, and Dr. Brown trafficked testosterone, a banned performance-enhancing substance; administered a prohibited intravenous infusion; and engaged in tampering to attempt to prevent relevant information about their conduct from being learned by USADA, according to a USADA news release.

    “The athletes in these cases found the courage to speak out and ultimately exposed the truth,” USADA CEO Travis T. Tygart said in a statement. “While acting in connection with the Nike Oregon Project, Mr. Salazar and Dr. Brown demonstrated that winning was more important than the health and wellbeing of the athletes they were sworn to protect.”

     

    Mr. Salazar said he would appeal the decision and that he had always followed the world antidoping code. “Throughout this six-year investigation my athletes and I have endured unjust, unethical and highly damaging treatment from USADA,” he said.

    Nike said the decision had nothing to do with administering banned substances to any Oregon Project athlete. “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,” a spokesperson said. Dr. Brown couldn’t immediately be reached for comment. The panel arbitrating Mr. Salazar’s case wrote that he and Dr. Brown coordinated medical treatment for athletes in the Nike Oregon Project, according to USADA.

     

    Mr. Salazar and Dr. Brown “communicated repeatedly about the athletes of the NOP’s performance and medical conditions, exchanging information without any apparent formal authorization by the athletes at the NOP or distinction between Dr. Brown’s role as an athlete’s physician and NOP consultant,” the panel found, according to USADA. It added that the men “shared information with the aim of improving the athletes’ performance via medical intervention, with a particular interest in increasing testosterone levels.”

     

    Mr. Salazar—a star former marathoner himself who won the New York City Marathon three times and the Boston Marathon once in the early 1980s—has been dogged by allegations that he pushed the limits of antidoping rules for his athletes. In 2015, former Oregon Project team members told ProPublica that Mr. Salazar experimented with the use of testosterone for athletes and pressured athletes to use prescription medications to gain an advantage. In the past, Mr. Salazar repeatedly denied wrongdoing. Mr. Salazar is listed as head coach on the website of the Nike Oregon Project.

     

    Neither Mr. Rupp nor Mr. Farah was mentioned in the USADA news release. A sports management agency whose website says it represents Mr. Rupp and Mr. Farah didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

     

    Dr. Brown pursued an unusual treatment for athletes, including Rupp, for a hormonal imbalance called hypothyroidism that typically affects middle-aged or older women, The Wall Street Journal reported in 2013. In a 2013 interview, Dr. Brown said he was aware of doping rumors. “The general public seems to think that if you have a medical problem and then you get better, that you’re on something [illegal],” he said. Dr. Brown prescribed for the athletes a drug called levothyroxine, which isn’t banned by the World Anti-Doping Agency but that many in competitive athletics suspected could be used for performance enhancement. “The patients I’ve treated have won 15 Olympic gold medals,” Dr. Brown said in the 2013 interview with the Journal.

     

    Mr. Farah, a four-time Olympic gold medalist who won the 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters before an adoring home crowd in London in 2012, left the Oregon Project two years ago to train in London. At the time, Mr. Farah said his departure was unrelated to the USADA investigation into Mr. Salazar and the Oregon Project. In a 2017 Facebook post, Mr. Farah said he was “a clean athlete who has never broken the rules in regards to substances, methods or dosages.”


    Write to Rachel Bachman at rachel.bachman@wsj.com

      I wonder what the "ban" entails? That he can't show up at meets? I'm sure he'll keep right on coaching and working with his athletes.

      60-64 age group  -  University of Oregon alumni  -  Irreverent and Annoying

      wolvmar


      UM 45 Ohio 23

        yeah, they don't really say. With appeals, he can likely keep coaching for a while

        catwhoorg


        Labrat

          Contact with a banned coach, is in of itself, an anti-doping violation for an athlete.

           

           

          As a practical matter, an athlete usually has to be served with written notification before they would count any contact as a violation.

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          catwhoorg


          Labrat

            yeah, they don't really say. With appeals, he can likely keep coaching for a while

             

            Unlikely. There is no stay of his ban, during an appeal.

            5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

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            HM 1:33:48 (Vdot 48.6) 11/11/17

            FM 4:13:43 (Vdot 35.4) 3/4/18

             

              The success of his athletes isn't solely due to exploring gray areas of banned substances and treatments. His training methods are right up there. However, most successful coaches can attribute their athlete's prowess to the fact that the athlete was ALREADY good before they started coaching them. The people coming to the Oregon Project were already world class.

               

              However, at that level, even a 1% advantage is very meaningful. Thus the constant cheating regarding banned substances, and exploring things that are not YET on the banned list (but will be once identified). Al has always looked for external, often mystical, ways to improve performance. He was "all in" for Spirulina, Rolfing, and other things when he was younger. OP athletes are probably subjected to hyperbaric chambers, cryogenic therapy, and any other "new" thing that comes along.

               

              Novices think that banned substances are used for race performance boosts, but that is only a second-hand result. The substances are used to be able to TRAIN harder and recover faster so they will be fitter and healthier for races. Way back when they only did drug testing at major events and not during training periods, even King Carl was on the juice. You could train for 6-9 months on banned substances and then flush them from your system before the NCAAs, Pan Am, or Olympics. Now they have random checks all year long.

               

              Salazar's coaching success is due to attracting top notch athletes, and his superior coaching ability is to not get them injured (much) while training at a world class level; not an easy thing to do. In 4 years he'll have to do it without the drugs/treatments.

              60-64 age group  -  University of Oregon alumni  -  Irreverent and Annoying

              Mikkey


              Mmmm Bop

                I feel sorry for the athletes involved as they put trust in their coach/team and just want to focus on the training.

                 

                You’ve got Sifan Hassan who’s going for the double at the World Athletics Championships....and now there’ll inevitably be a cloud over her.

                 

                The announcement couldn’t have come at a worse time during the Championships. It doesn’t help that nobody is interested in athletics in Doha. The top 3 in the Woman’s 100m final ended up doing a lap of honour to an almost empty stadium.

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                Running Problem


                Problem Child

                  SO Nike says it wasn't doping a Nike Oregon Project member, Mo and Galen also weren't doped AND according to the article he trafficked testosterone but no proof he gave it to athletes, but the panels just make reference to him coordinating medical treatment for the Nike Oregon Project.

                   

                  I'm sorry, why is this a 4 year ban? No test results from athletes testing positive? No smoking gun? Just a prohibited intravenous infusion and tampering with the information about it. wow. seems like a pretty severe penalty for an illegal injection of a legal substance. Apparently talking about medical treatment of athletes on a team is doping. What a bunch of horse feces. Using a substance prescribed that ISN'T BANNED makes you a doper. How many patents did Dr. Brown treat that DIDN'T win gold medals?

                   

                  People still hate  seeing Lance Armstrong compete. Alberto would get hate mail if he was coaching for the Westminster Dog show.

                  Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                  VDOT 53.37 

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                  Running Problem


                  Problem Child

                     

                     

                    Thus the constant cheating regarding banned substances, and exploring things that are not YET on the banned list (but will be once identified). Al has always looked for external, often mystical, ways to improve performance. He was "all in" for Spirulina, Rolfing, and other things when he was younger. 

                     

                    You could train for 6-9 months on banned substances and then flush them from your system before the NCAAs, Pan Am, or Olympics. Now they have random checks all year long.

                     

                    Salazar's coaching success is due to attracting top notch athletes, and his superior coaching ability is to not get them injured (much) while training at a world class level; not an easy thing to do. In 4 years he'll have to do it without the drugs/treatments.

                     

                    How is using and experimenting with a non-banned substance at all negative? If you're at the top 1% and not looking into everything you can to improve you're not going to be the best out there. Yeah Carl Lewis was doping but what he was taking wasn't illegal. Top notch athletes want top notch coaches and experimenting with cryogenic therapy isn't banned and at the level of Olympic and World Championship performance you'd better know what's out there. I bet they even have nutritionists in house for Oregon Project to pick what each athlete eats.

                    Just because Ablerto was the first one to go there (recently) doesn't mean he cheated. His winning streak ended up being his demise. Nowhere to go but down when you're at the top. More people want to see you fail than succeed when you're up there too. Look at Michael Phelps. One bong hit almost ruined his entire career. After he won all those gold medals he never wears or looks at.

                    Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                    VDOT 53.37 

                    5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                    xhristopher


                       

                      How is using and experimenting with a non-banned substance at all negative? If you're at the top 1% and not looking into everything you can to improve you're not going to be the best out there. Yeah Carl Lewis was doping but what he was taking wasn't illegal. Top notch athletes want top notch coaches and experimenting with cryogenic therapy isn't banned and at the level of Olympic and World Championship performance you'd better know what's out there. I bet they even have nutritionists in house for Oregon Project to pick what each athlete eats.

                      Just because Ablerto was the first one to go there (recently) doesn't mean he cheated. His winning streak ended up being his demise. Nowhere to go but down when you're at the top. More people want to see you fail than succeed when you're up there too. Look at Michael Phelps. One bong hit almost ruined his entire career. After he won all those gold medals he never wears or looks at.

                       

                      Interesting. Tell me your thoughts on Vance Legstrong?

                      catwhoorg


                      Labrat

                        Injection or infusion of a volume of greater than 100 ml in a 12 hour period is a prohibited METHOD.

                         

                        Could be saline, doesn't matter its still prohibited,

                         

                        See the examples in the USADA notes for when the limit can be passed.

                        https://www.usada.org/athlete-advisory/iv-infusions-explanatory-note/

                        5K  20:23  (Vdot 48.7)   9/9/17

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                        Running Problem


                        Problem Child

                           

                          Interesting. Tell me your thoughts on Vance Legstrong?

                           

                          Pre googling....Guilty.

                           

                          Getting the joke.....the years he "doped" by using EPO prior to it being a banned substance are not years he cheated. Totally legal. His team knew the rules, did the research to find out EPO can help performance, offered it to their athletes, and Lance allowed his body to be the test experiment for race data for a substance that was not banned by the race organization....thus making it legal. Is he responsible to share this information with his competition?

                           

                          NASCAR started regulating the air guns pit crews can use. They discovered teams were using guns with different speeds. Every second counts and when one team can do a pit stop in 11.5 seconds and another takes 12.1 it is a difference. Another team pulled out a concrete saw to cut the body up during a pit stop. Nothing in the rules against it. Guess what other teams started carrying when they saw that?

                          Oh college basketball, team reads the rules and discovers you don't have to inbound the ball directly to a player. They inbound the ball directly at the hoop, player catches it and dunks it to win the game. Fully legal but the other team complains but loses because there isn't a rule banning it.

                           

                          If you ain't cheating you ain't trying. By cheating I mean doing anything it takes to win that's not specifically banned by the rules.

                          Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                          VDOT 53.37 

                          5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                          Running Problem


                          Problem Child

                            Injection or infusion of a volume of greater than 100 ml in a 12 hour period is a prohibited METHOD.

                             

                            Could be saline, doesn't matter its still prohibited,

                             

                            See the examples in the USADA notes for when the limit can be passed.

                            https://www.usada.org/athlete-advisory/iv-infusions-explanatory-note/

                            95mL in a 12hour and 5 minute period isn't prohibited though. Guess what doctors are probably going to start doing if they aren't already. Taking really good detailed notes.

                            Many of us aren't sure what the hell point you are trying to make and no matter how we guess, it always seems to be something else. Which usually means a person is doing it on purpose.

                            VDOT 53.37 

                            5k18:xx | Marathon 2:55:22

                            xhristopher


                               

                              Pre googling....Guilty.

                               

                              Getting the joke.....the years he "doped" by using EPO prior to it being a banned substance are not years he cheated. Totally legal. His team knew the rules, did the research to find out EPO can help performance, offered it to their athletes, and Lance allowed his body to be the test experiment for race data for a substance that was not banned by the race organization....thus making it legal. Is he responsible to share this information with his competition?

                               

                              NASCAR started regulating the air guns pit crews can use. They discovered teams were using guns with different speeds. Every second counts and when one team can do a pit stop in 11.5 seconds and another takes 12.1 it is a difference. Another team pulled out a concrete saw to cut the body up during a pit stop. Nothing in the rules against it. Guess what other teams started carrying when they saw that?

                              Oh college basketball, team reads the rules and discovers you don't have to inbound the ball directly to a player. They inbound the ball directly at the hoop, player catches it and dunks it to win the game. Fully legal but the other team complains but loses because there isn't a rule banning it.

                               

                              If you ain't cheating you ain't trying. By cheating I mean doing anything it takes to win that's not specifically banned by the rules.

                               

                              Let’s say you have a son or daughter in an elite college program. Their coach has access to a new untested substance that improves their performance and takes them then next level. You gonna say have at it?

                                Maybe I missed the details...

                                 

                                but I'm curious about these drugs that are legal with a doctor's prescription??

                                Which drugs and what do they do?

                                 

                                Seems to me everyone would just have a Dr. prescribe them and be legal... sure unethical, but in this professional world....its legal vs illegal not ethical vs unethical.

                                300m- 37 sec.