Mo Farah: Is this Guy As Squeaky Clean As We Like To Think? Part 3: Mo joins the Nike Oregon Project.

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Welcome to Part 3 of the piece looking into why so many journalists are interested in the 4 times Olympic gold winner Mo Farah.

What is the Nike Oregon Project?

The Nike Oregon project was created in 2001 by sports company Nike to promote long distance running. The runners in this project live in Portland Oregon. Some of the runners live in specially designed air filtered houses that mimick living in areas of high altitude. The athletes are monitored which allow doctors and coaches to monitor their condition.
To head up this project Nike hired Alberto Salazar. Salazar wanted young athletes that had no bad habits so he could mould them into the kind of athlete they were looking for. Mo Farah was one of these recruits. Mo joined the project when he was 27. His career was good but not spectacular up until then. He was around 7th in the world and his 12 minute 57 second in the 5000 metres looked like his level which was off the pace. But then he went to America and joined the Nike project. Things started happening not so long after. Matt Tegenkamp beat Mo well in the 2007 world championship but it was a different story in 2009 and Mo 2011. Matt around the same age was declining. Mo was in the upward curve.

Altitude Houses

Around this time the United States Anti Doping Agency were asking questions over these high altitude houses. They considered them to be a form of blood doping and therefore called for them to be banned. However the World Anti Doping Agency came out in 2006 saying it was not appropriate to ban these high altitude housings at that time. This to me did not raise concern but it had a certain universal soldier vibe to it. A bit like the Sky teams "Marginal Gains".
In 2017, The New York Times wrote an article about a leaked and unverified United States Anti-Doping Agency report that claimed Salazar worked with athletes to increase their L-carnitine levels.

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One athlete on the programme called Dathan Ritzenhein spoke out about his methods and question the legality of the L-carnitine infusion techniques.
United States Anti-Doping Agency wrote a 369 page report stating a culture of coercion, secrecy and possible medical malpractice in the Oregon Project.
They said he provided or helped gain access to prescription-dose vitamin D; calcitonin; ferrous sulfate; Advair; testosterone; and various thyroid medications. Many of the drugs have no proven benefits for runners.
In a BBC documentary they claimed that Salazar with the help of an endocrinologist from Texas, Dr. Jeffrey S. Brown, administered an infusion procedure in violation of antidoping rules, colluded to cover it up and then lied to their athletes about its legality.
Now point to note at this stage. L - Carnitine is not a banned substance but the administration of the substances would be a breach of anti doping regulations. Anti-doping rules prohibit

“infusions and/or injections of more than 50 mL per 6 hour period".

Mo Moves Home.

In 2017 the Nike Oregon Project was getting media attention for all the wrong reasons. It was also around the time that 4 time Olympic Champion Mo Farah decided that he needed to move home because he wanted his children to be raised in London. He parted ways with under fire coach Salazar and started training with Gary Lough who was Paula Ratcliffe's coach.
In an interview with the Sun newspaper Farah denied that the move has anything to do with an ongoing USADA investigation into whether Salazar has used performance-enhancing drugs to provide an illegal boost to Nike Oregon Project athletes.

According to the Sun, Farah said:

"This situation has been going on for over two years, if I was going to leave because of that I would have done.
"As I've always said, I am firm believer in clean sport and I strongly believe that anyone who breaks the rules should be punished. If Alberto had crossed the line I would be out the door but USADA (U.S. Anti Doping) has not charged him with anything. If I had ever had any reason to doubt Alberto, I would not have stood by him all this time."I'm leaving simply because my family and I are moving back to London. We all loved spending our summer here and Tania and I realised how much we have missed spending time with our friends and family - and the kids are so happy here, too."We want the kids to grow up in the UK. It's the right thing to do for my family. But both Nike Oregon Project and Alberto are based in the USA, so it just would not be possible to continue our relationship from London."
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So a long distance runner running around 200km per week undisturbed in London is a great idea. Seems a bit strange. Doesn't it. Others think it was to get away from the media storm that Salazar and the Oregon Project. I will let the readers decide that one.

If It Quacks Like A Duck

So there we have it. He is now affiliated with two coaches that have serious allegations against them for doping. One in which was refused entry to his hotel this year. Part 4 will deal with the TUE's, Fancy Bear leaks and L- Carnitine injections that were not recorded in medical records.
Is it any wonder the journalistic sharks are circling??