Mark Parker, the CEO of Nike, says that the US sports equipment manufacturer has never made a move to "systematically boost" runners, according to an internal mail addressed to employees and obtained Wednesday by AFP. "Nike has not been part of any initiative to systematically boost athletes," Parker wrote in this internal document. "This idea makes me sick," he adds.
The comma mark is in turmoil after the four-year suspension of home coach Alberto Salazar for doping violations, and the release of a report by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) that M Parker has been copied with e-mails informing him of the advanced research of the Nike Oregon Project (NOP), a project created in 2001 to revive the elite of long distance running in the United States. Injections too important amino acids (which promote the burning of fat), experiments with testosterone, falsified medical documents ... the USADA has found, after a six-year investigation, a series of skids of M. Salazar, the world's most famous athletic trainer.
"As a runner, I was horrified and shocked that it was possible"
In an email dated 2011, Alberto Salazar explains, including the CEO of Nike, have injected for a test to one of the trainers of the NOP a liter of a mixture of amino acids and dextrose (glucose), a dose clearly superior to the rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). n Two years earlier, in another email sent to Mark Parker, Dr. Jeffrey Brown, a NOP collaborator, discusses experiments with gel testosterone.
In one response, the CEO writes that "it would be interesting to determine the minimum amount of male hormone required to trigger a positive test". Describing USADA's findings as "highly misleading," Mark Parker says Salazar "was worried that Nike athletes would be sabotaged by someone who would apply testosterone gel to them without their knowledge." "As a runner, I was horrified and shocked that it was possible," adds the big boss. And to be indignant: "To have my name and that of Nike related to these false characterizations unthinking (of the USADA) is offensive". Mark Parker then reiterated Nike's support for Alberto Salazar, who he said acted in good faith and did not violate any rules.