Sport

Mo Farah releases statement denying use of performance enhancing drugs

The 32-year-old posted the message on his Facebook page

A picture taken on August 11, 2012 shows Britain’s Mohamed Farah celebrating after winning the men’s 5000m final at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London. Photo: Oliver Morin/Getty Images
A picture taken on August 11, 2012 shows Britain’s Mohamed Farah celebrating after winning the men’s 5000m final at the London 2012 Olympic Games in London. Photo: Oliver Morin/Getty Images
Fri Jun 19 2015 - 13:13

Mo Farah has broken his silence to reveal that his two missed tests before London 2012 were the only ones in his career – and to reiterate that he has never taken performance-enhancing drugs. Farah, who has been training in Font Romeu in France, insisted that his two missed tests, in 2010 and 2011, were the result of “simple mistakes” and not anything more suspicious.

In a statement he said: “I have never taken performance-enhancing drugs in my life and I never will. Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative. I’ve fully explained the only two tests in my career that I have ever missed, which the authorities understood, and there was never any suggestion that these were anything more than simple mistakes.”

Farah has been the subject of intense media focus ever since a BBC’s Panorama documentary accused his coach Alberto Salazar of administering the banned steroid testosterone to his training partner Galen Rupp, along with a variety of other offences that either bent or broke anti-doping rules. Both men deny the accusations and while Farah has never been accused of any wrong-doing he admits the focus on him over the past fortnight has left him angry and upset.

“The last two weeks have been the toughest of my life – with rumours and speculation about me that are completely false – and the impact this has had on my family and friends has left me angry, frustrated and upset,: he said. “In particular, the media pressure on my young family and my wife, who is five months pregnant, is extremely painful, especially as I’m away training for some important races.”

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Farah, who has not spoken for nearly a fortnight since a media press conference before the Birmingham Grand Prix where he pledged to get answers from Salazar, also confirmed that he had spoken to his coach.

“I went to Portland to speak to Alberto and demand answers,” he added. “He reassured me that the claims are false and that he will soon be providing evidence to make that clear. Until then I will not be commenting further on the allegations.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fans, family, friends and team-mates for all the great support they have provided over the last few days and hope that I will now be allowed to focus on my training and winning medals for my country.”

Meanwhile, Salazar has insisted that Farah is still under his tutelage as he prepares to return to the track at the Monaco Diamond League meeting next month “Mo is on a different training cycle, as he always is at this time of year,” he told the Oregonian newspaper. “So I send him to Europe to get accustomed to the time zone. This is how we’ve always done it.

“This winter Barry [Fudge, the head of endurance for British Athletics who reports Farah’s progress to Salazar] administered my workouts to Mo in Ethiopia for six weeks, and Mo broke the world two-mile record.”

Mo Farah’s full statement

“I have never taken performance enhancing drugs in my life and I never will. Over the course of my career I have taken hundreds of drugs tests and every single one has been negative. I’ve fully explained the only two tests in my career that I have ever missed, which the authorities understood, and there was never any suggestion that these were anything more than simple mistakes.

“The last two weeks have been the toughest of my life - with rumours and speculation about me that are completely false - and the impact this has had on my family and friends has left me angry, frustrated and upset. In particular, the media pressure on my young family and my wife, who is five months pregnant, is extremely painful, especially as I’m away training for some important races.

“As I made clear, I went to Portland to speak to Alberto Salazar and demand answers. He reassured me that the claims are false and that he will soon be providing evidence to make that clear. Until then I will not be commenting further on the allegations.

“I would like to take this opportunity to thank my fans, family, friends and teammates for all the great support they have provided over the last few days and hope that I will now be allowed to focus on my training and winning medals for my country.”