Athletics Legend Splits From His Coach

Long distance specialist Mo Farah has announced his split from coach Alberto Salazar.

The 5,000m and 10,000m gold winner at London 2012 and Rio 2016 also revealed that his decision was based on a desire to move back to London rather than drug use allegations that Salazar is being investigated for by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).

The 34-year old Athletics legend said: “I’m moving back to London. I really miss home.”

He will now team up with Gary Lough, who formerly coached and is married to Paula Radcliffe, women marathon record holder.

In an interview with the Sun, Mo Farah explained the reason behind his decision.  He said:

“I am a firm believer in clean sport and I strongly believe that anyone who breaks the rules should be punished.”

“I’m not leaving the Nike Oregon Project and Alberto Salazar because of the doping allegations.

“This situation has been going on for over two years, if I was going to leave because of that I would have done.

“If Alberto had crossed the line I would be out the door, but Usada 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.”

Speaking further, Mo Farah said:

“I’m leaving simply because my family and I are moving back to London. We all loved spending our summer here and [Farah’s wife] 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.” he concluded.