RunBlogRun Podcast: My thoughts on Alberto Salazar

This is a podcast that I did last January 2020.

I wanted to put my thoughts on Alberto Salazar into a podcast, where I, out of the hysteria on both sides, considered the coach, athlete and man. I have known Alberto since the 1980s, when I met him at the NCAA district meet, where he battled Henry Rono. I observed him for years, then, began to chat with him on coaching. I was fascinated with his approach and his thirst for knowledge.

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In my mind, Alberto Salazar got too close to the Tree of Knowledge of good and evil. Yep, a biblical reference. Did he push his athletes? Most definitely. Some did well, and some did not.

I recall a day in April 2013, when a media group, organized by the IAAF (now World Athletics), spent a day with Alberto Salazar, Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Matt Centrowitz and Cam Levins. It was fun, relaxed and fascinating.

Alberto Salazar, Eugene 2008, photo by Wikipedia

His approach pushed the envelope, and some have said, spent too much time in the gray area. USADA and WADA could not let this happen, but, Alberto Salazar could not coach without this approach.

The sad thing is that, his athletic career, his coaching career, have all been tarnished by the bans and accusations.

Special thanks to The Shoe Addicts, Mike Deering and our photographers for their kind assitance.

Author

Larry Eder
Larry Eder has had a 52-year involvement in the sport of athletics. Larry has experienced the sport as an athlete, coach, magazine publisher, and now, journalist and blogger. His first article, on Don Bowden, America's first sub-4 minute miler, was published in RW in 1983. Larry has published several magazines on athletics, from American Athletics to the U.S. version of Spikes magazine. He currently manages the content and marketing development of the RunningNetwork, The Shoe Addicts, and RunBlogRun. Of RunBlogRun, his daily pilgrimage with the sport, Larry says: "I have to admit, I love traveling to far away meets, writing about the sport I love, and the athletes I respect, for my readers at runblogrun.com, the most of anything I have ever done, except, maybe running itself." Also does some updates for BBC Sports at key events, which he truly enjoys. Theme song: Greg Allman, " I'm no Angel."
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