The successful NIKE Oregon Project (NOP) is to be closed. A Leaked memo yesterday to Runners World had that confirmation given by CEO Mark Parker.
NOP must be one of the most successful athletic projects for several decades. I’m trying to think which the ones in the ’70s were called 🙁
Whilst the NOP has a majority of American athletes, there are of course, notable other nationalities like last week’s 1500m and 10,000m World’s gold winner Sifan Hassan; her win at those two distances and the margin of her 1500m victory were incredible to watch. Her 10,000m victory time was a year’s best time and, apparently, only her second ‘proper’ race at the 10,000m distance. Impressively she is also the ER 5k and World Record holder (Road) at 1500m and has a Half Marathon time of 77:10 as well as other records at 3k, 15k and 20k. A truly gifted athlete. Good for her! Mo Farah was also phenomenally successful at the Olympics but retired from the NOP and from track racing a couple of years ago and, perhaps, being Britain’s greatest ever endurance athlete.
- United States Galen Rupp
- United States Jordan Hasay
- United States Shannon Rowbury
- Japan Suguru Osako
- United States Craig Engels
- United States Clayton Murphy
- United States Eric Jenkins
- Netherlands Sifan Hassan
- Ethiopia Yomif Kejelcha
- United States Donavan Brazier
- Germany Konstanze Klosterhalfen
- Australia Jessica Hull
Former members
- United Kingdom Mo Farah
- Canada Cam Levins
- United States Dorian Ulrey
- United States Tara Erdmann
- United States Luke Puskedra
- United States Dathan Ritzenhein
- United States Mary Cain
- United States Treniere Moser
- United States Kara Goucher (Whistle Blower)
- United States Adam Goucher
These are involved in running the NOP
- Alberto Salazar, Head Coach (recently banned as he “trafficked testosterone and in 2017 he was accused of boosting athlete’s L-carnitine levels INTRAVENOUSLY)
- Pete Julian, Assistant Coach
- Dr Darren Treasure, PhD.
- David McHenry, Physical Therapist
What do you think?
I’m not really sure they had much choice given the recent demise of Salazar. Just how much those in charge of the project knew about Salazar’s actions is up for debate, and I guess there’s a chance we’ll never know.
I appreciate Twitter is not necessarily the best barometer of public opinion, but it seems everyone that has ever worked with the NOP, and Salazar in particular, is now being accused of wrong doing, Mo included.
It’s sad that when an athlete wins so convincingly, as Hassan did recently, the automatic reaction is to question whether they are clean. Or is it? Should there be more of a spotlight now? Again, maybe I just spend too much time on Twitter…
In respect of public opinion, i think it’s hard for people to believe that they didn’t know/suspect what may have been happening around them, possibly involving athletes they were working closely with. I think with Mo you also have to factor in his leaked passport which showed ‘abnormalities’. I don’t actually have an opinion on whether he doped or not, but it’s easy to see why people may be suspicious.
Agreed. The more I read about Mo, in particular things like the blood passport, the doorbell incident and the denials of knowing certain people he was actually photographed with, the more suspicious I become. I’m not saying I believe, but I certainly wouldn’t be surprised if it did eventually come to light.
Having failed at everything else, they nailed Salazar for “tax evasion” so to speak…. and even this will come back.
Epic fail….
good to hear from you, was talking about you only yesterday!
yep…some good stories down the line.
I wonder how many other national ‘projects’ elsewhere will also bite the dust.