Nike Shuts Down Oregon Project After Salazar Doping Ban

AP Photo/Ryan Kang

Nike is shutting down its Oregon Project track and field program following Alberto Salazar’s four-year doping ban.

Salazar oversaw the elite program, which started in 2001. He was found guilty last week by the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency of running experiments on athletes using supplements and testosterone. The agency didn’t implicate runners from the Nike Oregon Project. The company said the additional attention on its athletes due to the doping scandal was part of why it closed the program. Salazar, 61, has denied being involved in doping and is appealing the ban. Nike and Salazar’s protégée, Galen Rupp, are supporting the disgraced coach's efforts to overturn the ban.

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Rachael McDonald is KLCC’s host for All Things Considered on weekday afternoons. She also is the editor of the KLCC Extra, the daily digital newspaper. Rachael has a BA in English from the University of Oregon. She started out in public radio as a newsroom volunteer at KLCC in 2000.