Alberto Salazar permanently ineligible by SafeSport for sexual and emotional misconduct

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The US Center for SafeSport has declared former track coach Alberto Salazar to be ineligible for sexual misconduct and emotional violation.

The decision of SafeSport, an independent body that handles investigations and complaints of abuse and misconduct in Olympic sports, is subject to appeal by Salazar.

According to the SafeSport Code, “This means that a participant is permanently prohibited from participating in any capacity whatsoever in any program, activity, event or competition sponsored by, organized by or under the auspices of the USOPC, any NGB, and / or any LAO, or at a facility under their jurisdiction. This sanction is only imposed when a participant is found to have engaged in flagrant forms of misconduct and represents a permanent ban from participating in Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Salazar was placed on the temporarily banned list in January 2020 as the center investigated his behavior towards the women he trained.

In November 2019, former high school star Mary Cain opened up about years of abuse under Salazar’s leadership as a member of the Nike Oregon Project. In the days following his account in an Op-Doc with the New York Times, several former Project Oregon members validated his claims and shared their own experiences of the toxic team culture under Salazar.

In 2019, former Oregon Project athletes, including world championship medalist Kara Goucher, shared how Salazar would openly comment on her and the bodies and weight of other teammates.

Salazar has denied all allegations of abuse.

“My main goal as a coach was to promote athletic performance in a way that promotes the good health and well-being of all my athletes,” Salazar said in his statement to SI in 2019. “To the occasion, I may have made comments that have been callous or insensitive over the years in helping my athletes train hard. If an athlete was hurt by comments I made, such an effect was completely unintentional, and I’m sorry. I challenge, however, the notion that any athlete suffered abuse or discrimination based on gender during their run for Project Oregon. “

The United States Anti-Doping Agency banned Salazar and Dr Jeffrey Brown in September 2019 for four years. While no athlete who trained under Salazar has ever tested positive for a banned substance, USADA has determined that Salazar had tampered with the doping control process and trafficked in banned performance enhancing substances, including testosterone.

Salazar denied any wrongdoing and appealed against the ban to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The case was heard in March after being delayed from its initial hearing in November 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. No decision has been made by the CAS on whether the ban on Salazar will be maintained, shortened or canceled.

Nike shut down Project Oregon in October 2019. Several former Salazar athletes are competing in the Tokyo Olympics.

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