Nike responds after Salazar's ban over doping

NEW YORK

Nike never participated in efforts to "systematically dope" runners, CEO Mark Parker said in an email obtained by AFP Wednesday after sponsored coach Alberto Salazar was given a four-year ban for doping.

"Nike did not participate in any effort to systematically dope any runners ever; the very idea makes me sick," Parker wrote in the email sent to employees on Tuesday following the revelations about the athletics coach.

Nike were responding after the US Anti-Doping Agency's chief Travis Tygart told German broadcaster ZDF on Wednesday that Salazar, banned for four years following a doping probe, used athletes as "guinea pigs".

The World Athletics Championships, currently taking place in Doha, has been rocked by the scandal and Salazar has been stripped of his accreditation for the event.

Salazar has denied ever doping his athletes and says he will appeal.

Tygart told ZDF that athletes in Salazar's Nike-backed Oregon Project (NOP) training group were kept in the dark about the substances they were given, including whether they were illegal.

Tygart said the methods used by Salazar and doctors working with NOP were "simply unacceptable".

"The athletes really had no idea what they were being given, the dosages, whether the methods were prohibited or not. They were simply sent to a doctor and told, 'you've got to listen to the doctor'."

'REVIEW COOPERATION'

Tygart said he hoped Nike, which has long sponsored Salazar, would review their cooperation with the coach.

"I hope Nike sees this as a wake-up call," Tygart said.

Nike has backed Salazar in his decision to appeal the ban, adding: "Nike does not condone the use of banned substances in any manner."

Two members of the Oregon Project have won gold medals at the world championships in Doha, including American Donavan Brazier, who powered to victory in Tuesday's 800 metres final in a championship record time.

However, none of the athletes taking part at the world championships linked to Salazar's group have been found guilty of doping offences, and none were implicated in Usada's 134-page summary of the case.

Alongside Salazar, Jeffrey Brown, a Texas endocrinologist who treated athletes at the Oregon training hub in Portland, was also suspended for four years.