Galen Rupp, the greatest American distance runner of the 21st century, is many things. The fierce and fearless competitor recently turned against disgraced coach Alberto Salazar, who transgressed the sport in many ways.
Matthew Futterman, a sports journalist for the New York Times, wrote, “[Rupp] is a champion at the most important distances in distance running, so dominant in the marathon in the United States since 2016 that national competitions became races for second and third.”
The runner seems almost indestructible in that he has experienced multiple injuries, but none that have kept him from winning races by the final lap of the competition. Yet his longtime association with Salazar may have brought about Rupp’s fall from grace.
“Every athlete is entitled to the presumption of innocence, unless and until proven guilty through the legal process, that they have committed a violation,” said Travis Tygart, chief executive at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “It’s not fair to convict any athlete otherwise, but the reality is, in today’s world, it’s the same lesson I tell my kid, your choices do have consequences, and not everyone accepts that principle, and the choices of who you hang out with, you will be viewed by the company you keep.”
Salazar, a former world-record holder in the men’s marathon, a three-time champion in New York, and the Boston champion in 1982, scouted Rupp during a high-school soccer game in Portland, Oregon. Rupp demonstrated exquisite skills that made Salazar believe Rupp’s mix of speed and endurance suited the teenager perfectly for a career as an elite distance runner.
At the 2012 Olympics on a Saturday night in London, Mo Farah of Britain and Galen Rupp of the United States—both of whom were coached by Salazar—finished 1-2 in the 10,000-meter race. A week later, Farah won the gold medal in the 5,000 and Rupp finished seventh. Rupp then went on to the U.S. Olympic Trials marathons in 2016 and 2020 and resultantly won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2016 Games. Additionally, in 2017, he won the Chicago Marathon, one of the world’s fastest races.
However, in 2019, after years of investigations and litigation, “Salazar received a four-year ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for multiple doping-related offenses, including trafficking testosterone and tampering with the doping control process. That same year, Salazar came under scrutiny after two female athletes he coached, Mary Cain and Amy Yoder Begley, said he publicly ridiculed and body-shamed them when they ran for the Oregon Project. Last year, an arbitrator for the U.S. Center for SafeSport ruled that it was ‘more likely than not’ that Salazar digitally penetrated one of his runners during a massage. The center, which is charged with investigating and ruling on such cases, barred him from the sport for life,” writes Futterman.
Although Rupp has never tested positive for doping of any kind, his association with Salazar may haunt the younger runner for the rest of his athletic career.
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658070278585x185860453532017180/Can%20Galen%20Rupp%20outrun%20the%20shadow%20of%20a%20disgraced%20former%20coach_%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
Matthew Futterman, a sports journalist for the New York Times, wrote, “[Rupp] is a champion at the most important distances in distance running, so dominant in the marathon in the United States since 2016 that national competitions became races for second and third.”
The runner seems almost indestructible in that he has experienced multiple injuries, but none that have kept him from winning races by the final lap of the competition. Yet his longtime association with Salazar may have brought about Rupp’s fall from grace.
“Every athlete is entitled to the presumption of innocence, unless and until proven guilty through the legal process, that they have committed a violation,” said Travis Tygart, chief executive at the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency. “It’s not fair to convict any athlete otherwise, but the reality is, in today’s world, it’s the same lesson I tell my kid, your choices do have consequences, and not everyone accepts that principle, and the choices of who you hang out with, you will be viewed by the company you keep.”
Salazar, a former world-record holder in the men’s marathon, a three-time champion in New York, and the Boston champion in 1982, scouted Rupp during a high-school soccer game in Portland, Oregon. Rupp demonstrated exquisite skills that made Salazar believe Rupp’s mix of speed and endurance suited the teenager perfectly for a career as an elite distance runner.
At the 2012 Olympics on a Saturday night in London, Mo Farah of Britain and Galen Rupp of the United States—both of whom were coached by Salazar—finished 1-2 in the 10,000-meter race. A week later, Farah won the gold medal in the 5,000 and Rupp finished seventh. Rupp then went on to the U.S. Olympic Trials marathons in 2016 and 2020 and resultantly won the bronze medal in the marathon at the 2016 Games. Additionally, in 2017, he won the Chicago Marathon, one of the world’s fastest races.
However, in 2019, after years of investigations and litigation, “Salazar received a four-year ban from the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency for multiple doping-related offenses, including trafficking testosterone and tampering with the doping control process. That same year, Salazar came under scrutiny after two female athletes he coached, Mary Cain and Amy Yoder Begley, said he publicly ridiculed and body-shamed them when they ran for the Oregon Project. Last year, an arbitrator for the U.S. Center for SafeSport ruled that it was ‘more likely than not’ that Salazar digitally penetrated one of his runners during a massage. The center, which is charged with investigating and ruling on such cases, barred him from the sport for life,” writes Futterman.
Although Rupp has never tested positive for doping of any kind, his association with Salazar may haunt the younger runner for the rest of his athletic career.
Sources: https://s3.amazonaws.com/appforest_uf/f1658070278585x185860453532017180/Can%20Galen%20Rupp%20outrun%20the%20shadow%20of%20a%20disgraced%20former%20coach_%20-%20The%20New%20York%20Times.pdf
