Why IAAF has 'big interest' in Salazar doping case
What you need to know:
- Several members of the Oregon Project have been competing at the World Championships in Doha
- Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan won1,500m and 10,000m golds and Donavan Brazier of the United States the 800m
- International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said last week the IOC wanted to know if any Olympic results could have been affected by Salazar's activities
DOHA
IAAF chief Sebastian Coe said Sunday the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) would conduct a review of the Alberto Salazar doping case following calls to investigate athletes linked to the coach.
Salazar, the head of the Nike Oregon Project elite training group, was banned for four years on Monday after an investigation by the United States Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).
"We have an Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) that clearly will take a big interest in the findings of Usada," International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) president Coe told reporters.
"I'm entirely confident that the AIU will want to look at the whole case and will want to think about the implications of that."
Several members of the Oregon Project have been competing at the World Championships in Doha, with Dutch distance runner Sifan Hassan winning 1,500m and 10,000m golds and Donavan Brazier of the United States winning the 800m.
Although none of the Oregon Project runners have been accused of wrongdoing, International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Thomas Bach said last week the IOC wanted to know if any Olympic results could have been affected by Salazar's activities.
Salazar is best known as the coach of four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah, and was also the coach of 2016 Olympic 1,500m champion Matthew Centrowitz.
Coe meanwhile refused to be drawn on the details of the Usada report, revealing that he was still yet to read it in detail.
"I haven't actually read the report," Coe said.
"I've read the executive summary. That and the announcement of the suspension was enough for me to get into business mode."
Coe added that suspicions surrounding Hassan's remarkable 1,500-10,000m double were to be expected.
"Sadly it's the world we live in," he said.
"It's inevitable that outstanding performances, given the nature of trust, is permanently questioned.
"I think we have to be quite careful how we draw judgements from the performance paradigm, and shifts in that performance."
Hassan, who joined the Oregon Project in late 2016, has denied wrongdoing, and on Saturday said she was willing to undergo daily drug testing to prove her innocence.
