Alberto Salazar Banned (Updated)
Title image from David Epstein and ProPublica.org
Alberto “AlSal” Salazar
Alberto “AlSal“ Salazar might not be a name you recognize if you aren’t familiar with distance running or track and field, but he’s certainly a name you wouldn’t forget if you were. He is known as one of the greatest distance coaches of all time as well as being a world-class athlete and former American record holder himself.
AlSal has coached some of the best runners in history, including: Alan Webb, Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Adam Goucher and Kara Goucher, Dan Browne, Amy Yoder Begley, Sifan Hassan, Dathan Ritzenhein, Donavan Brazier, Jordan Hasay, Matthew Centrowitz, Shannon Rowbury, and Mary Cain. Among others, he has helped facilitate numerous world medals, championship victories, championship and national records, as well as a recent world record.
You may have caught wind of the name in more recent weeks as he has been banned from the sport for the next four years by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) for a litany of doping violations.
Past controversy
Salazar is no stranger to controversy. Dating back to his coaching beginnings in 1996, his athlete Mary Decker qualified for the Olympic Games in the 5,000m run, at the age of 37. The following year, she won the silver medal at the World Indoor Championships in the 1,500m. An amazing feat indeed, though she was stripped of her medal for testing positive for heightened levels of testosterone.
In 2015, Salazar was named as a potential doping offender, alleged to be microdosing athletes with testosterone, by two separate sources — the New York City nonprofit newsroom ProPublica, and BBC’s news program Panorama. It was at this time that other whistleblowers, such as former athlete Kara Goucher, stepped forward and recounted personal incidences where Salazar had continuously asked her to to take unprescribed thyroid medication to aid in losing weight after her pregnancy in 2010.
It was in that 2015 Panorama documentary called “Catch Me If You Can”, that things really started heating up. You can watch it in its entirety here. Goucher, as well as Salazar’s former assistant coach and standout high school miler Steve Magness, went on record proclaiming many injustices, mistreatment of athlete’s, blatant doping, and threatening to release athlete’s if they didn’t do as he told them to do. One former athlete of his and former American 5,000m record holder Dathan Ritzenhein, went on to say Salazar would often say things such as: "I can't coach you if you don't do this."
All of the allegations from other athletes and those that worked close to him, didn’t do much to deter his position as the head of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), the very elite platform that allowed him a steady stream of incredible young talent.
Recent ban
For the last several years, he has been under investigation for the above stated, all of which came to a head this summer at the World Championships where he was kicked out and slapped with a four year doping violation by the IAAF. On October 1st, he was been accused of attempted tampering with doping processes, attempted trafficking of testosterone, and the administration of banned substances such as testosterone and high doses of L-carnitine (supplement). The NOP’s endocrinologist, Jeffrey Brown, will also serve a four year ban for similar charges.
Athletes have come forward to confess that they were sometimes sent to Dr. Brown in Houston, Tx but were told to not ask many questions which brought unease. He and Salazar would often prescribe high volumes of vitamins as a part of their regimen, as well as sleeping pills, seemingly unneeded thyroid and asthma medications, and more.
You can read the full in-depth report by US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) here. It’s an interesting read chalked full of violations, accounts, and more. It’s long though, so be sure to shotgun some coffee and put that pizza in the oven, because you’re in for a little.
AlSal has been very vocal in regards to USADA’s unjust and misguided characterization of him and the NOP saying, “This is demonstrated by the misleading statement released by Travis Tygart (the man that took down Lance Armstrong) stating that we put winning ahead of athlete safety. This is completely false and contrary to the findings of the arbitrators, who even wrote about the care I took in complying with the world anti-doping code.”
Those willing to at least scan the pages will note some intriguing passages that actually praise the sullied coach. For example, on page 133 section 532, the panel specifically states:
“...the Respondent does not appear to have been motivated by any bad intention to commit the violations the Panel found. In fact, the Panel was struck by the amount of care generally taken by Respondent to ensure that whatever new technique or method or substance he was going to try was lawful under the World Anti-Doping Code, with USADA’s witness characterizing him as the coach they heard from the most with respect to trying to ensure that he was complying with his obligations...apparently motivated by his desire to provide the very best results and training for athletes under his care. Unfortunately, that desire clouded his judgment in some instances, when his usual focus on the rules appears to have lapsed.”
While Salazar is fighting these charges stating “The Oregon Project has never and will never permit doping”, and “I will appeal and look forward to this unfair and protracted process reaching the conclusion I know to be true", he’s likely in for a long legal battle.
He worked directly with Nike to run many tests including the positive effects of L-carnitine and topical creams, which were noted to be used on his sons to determine how much could be administered before triggering a positive drug test. L-carnitine had been shown to utilize fat as an energy source, effectively boosting performance as well as shaving weight. Given Salazar was one of the ones who championed and helped pioneer L-carnitine supplementation in performance enhancement, he was fully aware of the benefits and was said to be “concerned that Nike runners could be sabotaged by someone rubbing testosterone cream on them,” a Nike spokesman stated.
But he wasn’t just cited as using creams and oral supplementation, he was administering L-carnitine in extremely high doses intravenously. This was in an attempt to drastically reduce the time it took to start seeing results, as it was determined to take nearly six months before demonstrating effectiveness. He famously wrote an email to Lance Armstrong excitedly toting its efficacy. "Lance call me ASAP! We have tested it and it's amazing!"
His current negative spotlight has given rise to further allegations that are far more damning than the claims of unfair athletic advantages. As a result of doping allegations and a recent op-ed from former athlete Mary Cain (and others), the NOP has also been dissolved.
Mary Cain
Mary Cain was, at one point, the poster child of America’s middle distance future. By the age of 17 she had already qualified for the World Outdoor Championships in the 1500m. This remarkable feat earned her the title of youngest American track and field athlete to make the World Championships. Her stellar junior career is what caught the eye of Alberto Salazar and led her to join the NOP and perhaps the best distance crew in the world at the time.
When she arrived, she has come forward to say that the NOP not only physically, but emotionally abused her. She cites specific instances involving her being yelled at in public for running poorly as a consequence of failing to lose weight, asking to drop down to 114 pounds to be successful, losing her period for three years, breaking five bones, and suicidal tendencies.
Relative Energy Deficiency in Sports (RED-S) syndrome, is a disorder generally brought about in sports in women who burn far more calories than they take in. What happens is the athlete isn’t able to get the necessary nutrients or energy to support the amount of stress they are requiring of their body. It’s also known as Female Athlete Triad, but can occur in those who aren’t necessarily competitive athletes. The “triad“ consists of disordered eating, loss of menstrual periods, and decreased bone mineral density. While you don’t need to experience all three to be diagnosed, Mary may have.
She admits to falling into bouts of depression and cutting herself. Mary says she finally spoke up to her parents about the treatment and how the pressure of losing weight was causing her to underperform and …her to self-harm. Her parents have made statements to news outlets stating that they reached out to the coach and told him that it was not right for him to speak to young women about their weight and to try and enforce such things, especially when they may feel uncomfortable about it or bring about health concerns as it seems to have sparked.
Salazar has since responded with this. “Because runner weight is inherently tied to performance for elite runners, I saw it as part of my job as an endurance sport coach to help the team’s runners understand the impact weight has on performance. I had a lot of frank discussions about weight with all of my athletes—both women and men.” He also said to The Oregonian, Salazar, that Cain’s father, who is a medical doctor, was routinely informed on Mary’s health regimens and that he had never been reproached by her father.
Below is the New York Times video, narrated and told by Mary Cain herself.
In our male dominated sport, as coaches, it is our responsibility to be observant of our athlete’s patterns and feelings, remain diligent in maintaining a healthy life and relationship with each of them, and keep an open-mind to that which we don’t have full knowledge and experience of.
Closing thoughts
While these allegations are still just that, it is important to bare in mind the implications of an obsessive pursuit of winning, and interesting to note how more seem to only just now be coming out to voice their stories and experiences with Alberto Salazar and the NOP.
Worse yet for the sport of Athletics (track and field), Russia is once again facing charges and possible expulsion from World Athletics (formerly IAAF) membership. After the last several years on suspension for a countrywide doping scandal themselves, they are now accused of obstructing the investigation into Russian high jumper Danil Lysenko, and producing fake medical documents for him.
We will wait and see, as well as continue to update this article for you guys as more information surfaces.
Do you feel as though Salazar was trying to play within the rules as best he could to gain advantage, or do you think there was clear intent to cheat the system in order to win at all costs? At a level as high as the Olympics, is it at all warranted? Was his best interest at heart for his athlete’s success as well as their heath? Comment below on your thoughts.
