Careful Who You Associate With

Associating with someone can have serious consequences and Mo Farah knows that first hand. He's a well known name in athletics. Mo is the most successful British track athlete in modern Olympic Games history, he has won 2 Olympic gold medals and a lot of other victories. His career is exemplary but not without difficulties and definitely not spotless.

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His association with his former coach Alberto Salazar has caused him to suffer emotionally and financially as well.

American Salazar was banned for four years by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency last year for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct" as head coach of the Nike Oregon Project, a camp designed mainly to develop U.S. endurance athletes. source

After Salazar got banned, many were asking if Mo is implicated as well. Personally I can't blame anyone for questioning Mo being clean. I have asked the same question and it's hard to believe he had no idea about what has been going on.

Looks like people has tried to warn Mo, like the former UK Athletics chairman Ed Warner , who said he tried to convince Mo to leave Salazar in 2015. This was right after Mo won the 5,000m and 10,000m at the world championships in Beijing but obviously Mo had no intention to listen. Loyalty is admirable and also hard to find and in a way I admire Mo for staying with Salazar.

There are no evidence that Mo has been implicated in any way, however, sponsors have dropped Mo and others have turned away from him. This is a chain reaction, one after another and honestly I can't blame them. They were protecting their business and image as well. No one wants their names tide to a doping scandal. Once you're mixed in a scandal like that, it will stick to you forever.

There were discussions about whether athletes should keep their medals if one of the relay team fails the doping test. At the moment the medal is taken from all of the members, regardless if they are found guilty or not. All for one and one for all, right?

Usain Bolt lost the Olympic gold medal in Beijing in 2008 as Nesta Carter, his 4x100m relay teammate tested positive for a banned substance. Bolt was at the top of his career, winning one event after another, breaking records one after another and although he had never failed or missed any drug test, there were voices saying he was not playing fair. Because of Nesta Carter they all had to suffer.

Russia is the other example, where all athletes are suffering, regardless of them being implicated in the scandal or not. Russia just got a four year ban recently that affects all the athletes. Some athletes have expressed their intention of boycotting the Tokyo Olympics in order to get the ban lifted but these are desperate threats, no one is going to lift the ban due to blackmail.

They said they are paying for something they didn't do and they are right, they are all suffering for something others have done. And Mo is also paying for someone else's mistake or I should not call it mistake as that wasn't a mistake.