Lausanne (AFP)
The International Olympic Committee will seek clarification from the World Anti-Doping Agency on the case of the American coach Alberto Salazar, suspended for doping, to see if results at the Olympics could be "affected", said Thursday its President Thomas Bach.
"We are going to ask WADA first to find out how many athletes have been investigated," said Bach after a meeting of the IOC Executive Board. in Lausanne.
"Does the dossier cover the entire period of the project's existence or only a part of it?" Could certain Olympic Games results have been directly or indirectly affected? ", Bach still wondered.
Salazar, controversial coach until 2017 British Mo Farah, multiple Olympic champion, and athletes involved in the Doha World Championships (Qatar) has been suspended for "organizing and incitement to banned doping conduct", announced Tuesday the Agency anti-doping system (Usada).
Aged 61, he is the mentor of the Oregon Project, a high-level training group based in the northwestern United States and funded by the Nike equipment manufacturer, which has accumulated success for several years. years in the background and middle distance.
British superstar Mo Farah, a four-time Olympic champion and six-time world champion (5,000 and 10,000m), was part of the group between 2011 and 2017, with Americans Galen Rupp (double Olympic medalist) and Matthew Centrowitz (1500 Olympic champion). m in 2016).
Bach also said on Thursday that the IOC wanted pre-Olympics anti-doping samples to be kept for 10 years, as is the case during the Games.
"We would like this to also apply to pre-Games testing conducted by the International Control Agency (ITA) to enhance the deterrent effect," Bach said.
"We will start discussions in the coming weeks with WADA and the International Federations to see how this can be put in place," added Bach, adding that the cost of this storage would be borne by the IOC.
© 2019 AFP