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Kara Goucher

Olympian Kara Goucher went to USADA because she cares about 'clean sport'

Paul Myerberg
USA TODAY Sports
Kara Goucher places 18th in the 5,000 in 16:05.35 in the 2015 USA Championships at  Hayward Field.

EUGENE, Ore. — In her first public comments since the release of a BBC and ProPublica report that has gripped the world of track and field, two-time Olympian Kara Goucher called her decision to speak about alleged drug use within the Oregon Project "a burden I've been carrying around for years."

She added that she would be willing to testify under oath about allegations leveled against her former coach, Alberto Salazar.

"I would welcome that opportunity for myself, for every former Oregon Project member, for every doctor that's been involved," said Goucher, who left the Oregon Project in 2011.

"I didn't want to have to share it. I don't wish ill will on people. But I care about a clean sport. I finally had the courage to speak to (the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency). I feel very good about it. I believe in the truth and I know that these things take time. I believe USADA's doing everything in their power."

Goucher, 36, said she first reached out to USADA with her concerns in February of 2013, and that she spoke with the governing body "very recently." Other athletes at this week's USA Track and Field Outdoor Championships have reached out to her with information, she added.

"I will say that multiple, multiple sources have come forward since the program aired," Goucher said. "I don't even know who many of them are so I definitely can't be manipulating it. And that makes me feel really good.

"I really want to encourage all the people who have reached out to me to reach out to USADA, to please come forward. I pass everything along that you give me. But the case is much stronger if it comes from you."

Released in early June, the report alleged that Salazar, head of the Nike-backed track team, approved the use of banned drugs, including testosterone, and prescription medications, in the search of an added performance benefit. Goucher called Salazar "a win-at-all-costs person".

Months after giving birth to her son in 2010, Goucher alleged in the report, Salazar prescribed Cytomel, a form of a synthetic thyroid hormone, to help her lose weight. Prescribed dosages of such hormone drugs are not effective for weight loss, continued the report, and larger doses "may produce serious or even life-threatening manifestations of toxicity."

Salazar rebutted those claims made in an open letter released last week, saying, "Former athletes, contractors and journalists make accusations in these stories, harming my athletes. At best they are misinformed. At worst, they are lying."

Citing emails between himself and Goucher, Salazar called her statements "false". "I have no idea why (Goucher and her husband, Adam, himself a former Oregon Project athlete) have made these false statements about the Oregon Project. I find it sad beyond words," he wrote.

In response, Goucher said Sunday that emails between herself and Salazar were taken out of context.

"It all hurt," she said. "Basically, I was labeled a liar, which hurts because I'm a very truthful person. The whole thing was hurtful. I understand it makes me look like a liar. I don't like being labeled a liar just like anybody else. I want people to like me. But my love for the sport is much stronger than my passion to have people like me.

"It was unfortunate that instead of stating his truth he had to involve personality and personal things into it. I was warned this might happen and I knew it would. But it did hurt a lot more than I thought it would.

"I know who I'm dealing with, so I knew it would get ugly. ... Yes, I'm being dragged through the mud, and unfortunately that's probably going to continue.

"My love for this sport is much greater than what people think about me. If people think I'm a liar, a manipulator, that sucks. But I care more about the sport and the future of the sport, that my son has something to do when he's older than he believes in."

A tumultuous month off the track impacted her performance in Sunday's 5,000-meter final, Goucher said. She finished 18th out of 20 athletes with a time of 16:05.35.

"I think I've really tried to separate myself from the situation, but today it definitely kind of caught up with me. I'm human like everybody else. As much I've tried to separate myself from it and focus on the positive things that have come from it, I think I'm very tired."

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