UKC

Following on from this announcement, what do you think of Mo Farah's decision to withdraw from today's race?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/33039347

I don't follow athletics but it seems to me that simply because of his close association with his trainer, his name is obviously going to get mentioned in the same discussions about the accusations against Salazar. I'm not sure exactly what he expected people to do, but it comes across like he's spat the dummy both by this action and by his comments in and to the press. Happy to be corrected on this however.

In reply to Fraser:

Harsh appraisal of his actions, he feels he has been maligned by association, and probably feels it would have distracted from his performance. Seems reasonable to me...

In reply to dale1968:
I don't agree. People bought tickets to watch him.

This was nothing new, the fingers been pointed at AS and the NOP for a few years now. It was pretty widely known that you had to be 'ill' to be in the NOP. They certainly use a lot of substances it's just weather or not it is technically doping. The fact that they regularly test their runners blood making sure it comes up clean is all you need to know..

In reply to dale1968:

I suppose I can see why he might feel like that but all the reports I've heard on tv or the radio have been very clear to point out that he has not been accused of any wrong doing. It just seems to be slightly naive not to expect any reference to him, purely because he is associated with Salazar and is probably the best known British athlete right now. He must know how the British press machine works and should surely have expected it.

In reply to Fraser:

I for one thing Mo is completely clean and wouldn't knowingly associate with anyone who uses questionable methods of gaining results. I think he was probably right to pull out - fan's or no fans, there's no point running in a race if you don't feel up to it.

In reply to Roadrunner5:

>The fact that they regularly test their runners blood making sure it comes up clean is all you need to know..

I don't know about that. After what happened to Diane Modahl, if I were a world-class distance runner arranging my own regular blood tests would be one the very first things I'd do.

In reply to the OP: seemed fair enough to me. People bought tickets to see lots of athletes, not just MF. He presumably loses money too.

jcm

In reply to johncoxmysteriously:

Did you see the BBC panorama recently (might have been c4) with the journo who micro dosed and beat he biometric passport system? And he didn't have scientific support, just a doc making sure he wasnt killing himself.

In reply to higherclimbingwales:

I very much doubt he's completely clean.. The NOP has been questioned a lot about its athletes 'illnesses'.. It's questionable whether it's illegal but many many runners seriously question of he or anyone at NOP is clean..

In reply to balmybaldwin:

That's part of the problem many know tests won't detect it anyway. I've a friend who failed EPO and that was a shock as she was under the impression it wouldn't test positive..

In reply to Roadrunner5:

Mo is not coming out of this well. The 'its all about Mo Mo Mo' speech from him demonstrates how out of touch he's become. I don't think UKA have a clue what he's up to at NOP, and by tucking tail and rushing back to Oregon he's certainly not helping the situation.

It'll be interesting to hear what Salazar has to say, and when US doping decide to get involved...