Athletes react to Salazar doping ban

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VIDEO SHOWS: ATHLETES NOELIE YARIGO AND JEROME BLAKE, AND COACH SERGEY KLEVSTOV, REACTING TO THE NEWS ALBERTO SALAZAR HAS BEEN BANNED FOR FOUR YEARS FOR DOPING OFFENCES

SHOWS:

DOHA, QATAR (OCTOBER 1, 2019) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL)

1. SOUNDBITE (English) CANADIAN SPRINTER JEROME BLAKE SAYING:

"The thing is I kind of know of him because he coached some really good athletes and he's been around for a really long time from what I've heard from other athletes and stuff like that. It's unfortunate. This is a sport where there's bad things are going on and good things going on too. You can't really dwell in the negative… They are fighting for a clean sport. I think it's one of them things bad things do happen and people do bad things. You can't really let the bad things affect the sport and the growth that's trying to happen through track and field. With the absence of Usain Bolt,… it's a late championships so most of the guys are not running as fast as they should be. And this stuff and all the other doping stuff coming out. It's kind of unfortunate. It's a part of it, a part of sport where people do things just to make themselves a little bit better than the next person that they are competing against, unfortunately. You've got to tip your hat to the guys who are doing their best, working really hard to make themselves better without trying to do anything negative to make themselves better."

2. SOUNDBITE (Russian) RUSSIAN ATHLETICS COACH SERGEY KLEVTSOV SAYING;

"I think the approach in these types of investigations needs to be the same for everybody, no matter what country you represent."

3. SOUNDBITE (French) NOELIE YARIGO, RUNNER FROM BENIN, SAYING:

"I think it's a good decision because we need to run clean for our own health. We can have a successful career without thinking about doping. That's my opinion."

STORY: Alberto Salazar's four-year doping ban is a blow to athletics but was the right punishment, according to some of those taking part in the World Athletics Championships in Doha this week.

Speaking to Reuters TV, Canadian sprinter Jerome Blake said the situation was "unfortunate", while Benin distance runner Noelie Yarigo praised the decision as "good".

Salazar, who has coached a string of high profile athletes including double Olympic gold medallist Mo Farah, was banned after an investigation by the United States Anti Doping Agency.

USADA said Salazar's punishment was for "orchestrating and facilitating prohibited doping conduct" as head coach of the Nike Oregan Project (NOP), a camp designed primarily to develop U.S. endurance athletes.