Mo Farah: I would have been ‘first one out’ if I’d known about Alberto Salazar

ByEurosport

Updated 09/01/2020 at 19:34 GMT

Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah has said he would have quit the Nike Oregon Project far sooner had he known former coach Alberto Salazar faced a ban for doping offences.

Salazar was handed a four-year ban by the US Anti-Doping Agency last year following an investigation into practices at the Oregon Project.

Farah trained under Salazar between 2011 and 2017, the period he won all four of his Olympic titles, and has normally been reluctant to be too critical of his former coach.

Yet in an interview with BBC Sport, Farah was insistent that his legacy would not be tainted and he would have been the first to leave had he known what was happening.

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"I believe in clean sports," said Farah, who has never failed a drugs test.

Alberto Salazar, Mo Farah

Image credit: Getty Images

"I continue to enjoy my sports and do what I do. At the same time had I known the news what Salazar was taking [sic], if I had known sooner, I would have been first one out.

That's the bit that's kind of annoying, I wish I'd known quicker.

"I haven't been part of Salazar for the last two years and I believe me and my coach Gary Lough are going to go out there and do the best that we can."

Farah was also asked about his decision to return to the track at the 2020 Games in Tokyo later this year and said that it "wasn't difficult at all".

"Two years went by and then you watch a championship and see people you competed against week in week out," he said.

"I felt like I was there as I was getting involved watching the races and from that point I was like 'I want to get back on the track'. I want to go out there, see what I can do for my country and win medals."

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