39 Facts About Alberto Salazar

Alberto Salazar was born on August 7,1958 and is an American former track coach and long-distance runner.

Alberto Salazar won the New York City Marathon three times in the early 1980s, and won the 1982 Boston Marathon in a race known as the "Duel in the Sun".

Alberto Salazar set American track records for 5,000 m and 10,000 m in 1982.

Alberto Salazar was later the head coach of the Nike Oregon Project.

Alberto Salazar won the IAAF Coaching Achievement Award in 2013.

In 2015, Alberto Salazar was named in a joint BBC Panorama and ProPublica investigation into doping allegations.

In 2019, Alberto Salazar was banned for four years from athletics for doping offenses involving athletes he coached.

In December 2021, Alberto Salazar appealed the ban in arbitration but lost, making him permanently ineligible for any activity held by the USOPC or any sport's USOPC-recognized National Governing Body.

Alberto Salazar's father Jose was a close friend of Fidel Castro and a revolutionary, who then became an opponent of the totalitarian communist regime and member of the anti-Castro movement.

The younger Alberto Salazar was an outstanding high school runner who was state cross country champion in 1975.

Alberto Salazar trained with the well-known Greater Boston Track Club, where he was given the nickname of "the rookie".

Alberto Salazar finished 2nd to Rono in a memorable contest at the 1979 NCAA national cross country championships at Lehigh University, in which Rono and Salazar ran the 3rd and 5th fastest 10,000-meter cross country times in NCAA championship history.

From 1980 through 1982, Alberto Salazar won three consecutive New York City Marathons.

Alberto Salazar was on that week's cover of Sports Illustrated after the victory.

In 1981, Alberto Salazar set an apparent world record at the New York City Marathon of 2:08:13, surpassing the 12-year-old mark of 2:08:33 set by Australian Derek Clayton in 1969 in Antwerp, Belgium.

Alberto Salazar won the race in an exciting sprint finish and collapsed at the end before being taken to an emergency room and given six liters of saline solution intravenously because he did not drink fluids during the race.

Alberto Salazar enjoyed success in cross country competition, earning several All-American honors in collegiate and post-collegiate national championships.

Alberto Salazar was the US national cross country champion in 1979.

Alberto Salazar fared well at the IAAF World Cross Country Championships, finishing second in 1982 and fourth in 1983.

Alberto Salazar was the 10,000-meter national track champion in 1983, pulling away from Craig Virgin in the last straightaway at the US championships in Indiana in June to win his second such title.

Alberto Salazar was considered a favorite to win or medal in the 1984 Summer Olympics but finished a disappointing 15th in 2:14:19 under the hot Los Angeles sun.

Alberto Salazar recounts falling into a "more-is-better" mindset which led him to reason that if 120 miles per week yielded a certain level of success, then 180 miles or even 200 miles would bring even better results.

Alberto Salazar soon retired from competing, believing that he had nothing left to prove as a runner, and became a running coach.

Alberto Salazar stated that the medication played a role in motivating him to succeed again in professional running though the actual effect of the drug on his performance remains controversial.

Alberto Salazar was employed by Nike as coach of the Nike Oregon Project.

Alberto Salazar ran in the ING New York Marathon in 2006, at age 48, serving as a pacesetter for cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was attempting his first marathon.

Alberto Salazar was primarily responsible for guiding Armstrong for the first 10 miles of the race, while Joan Benoit Samuelson oversaw the next 10 miles, and Hicham El Guerrouj the final 6.2 miles.

On Saturday, June 30,2007, Alberto Salazar suffered a heart attack and was rushed to the hospital.

On June 26,2008, on the eve of the US Olympic trials, Alberto Salazar was taken to the hospital again, for dehydration and high blood pressure.

Alberto Salazar returned to the track to coach his athletes through the trials.

In 2012, Alberto Salazar published the autobiography 14 Minutes: A Running Legend's Life and Death and Life, along with John Brant.

In June 2015, Alberto Salazar was named in a joint BBC Panorama and ProPublica investigation into doping allegations.

Alberto Salazar declined to be interviewed for the programme, but denied any wrongdoing, saying in a statement that the "allegations your sources are making are based upon false assumptions and half-truths in an attempt to further their personal agendas".

One of the more high-profile allegations was made by former Nike Oregon Project athlete Kara Goucher, who claimed she was pressured by Alberto Salazar to take thyroid medication not prescribed by her doctor to lose weight gained during her pregnancy in 2010.

Alberto Salazar appealed his doping ban to the international Court of Arbitration for Sport, which upheld his 4-year ban on September 16,2021.

Alberto Salazar appealed via an arbitration that was held in early December 2021.

At the arbitration hearing Alberto Salazar denied the accusations against him, and said he did not speak with or see the runner on the days in question.

Alberto Salazar's name was removed from the building on Nike's Beaverton campus after the ban was imposed.

Alberto Salazar continued to deny involvement in any misconduct and said that he felt the SafeSport process was unfair and "lacked due process protections".