Alberto Salazar: Jenny Simpson wants longer ban
- Published
Alberto Salazar was found guilty of doping violations after a four-year investigation
Coach Alberto Salazar should have been banned for longer than four years, according to former 1500m world champion Jenny Simpson.
Salazar, the former coach of Britain's Mo Farah, was this week found guilty of doping violations after a four-year investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada).
"Get him out, that's my reaction. If you cheat, you get banned," said 33-year-old American Simpson. "I'm a believer in lifetime bans. I wish it was longer. Don't cheat."
The decision against Salazar came after a two-year court battle behind closed doors. The 61-year-old American has said he will appeal.
Simpson has competed at three Olympics. She won gold at the 2011 World Championships, silver in 2013 and 2017 and Olympic bronze in 2016.
Salazar runs the Nike Oregon Project - home to four-time Olympic champion Farah from 2011 until 2017.
Farah, 36, has never failed a drugs test and has always strongly denied breaking any rules.
Allegations against Salazar first surfaced in 2015, but UK Athletics cleared Farah to remain with the Nike Oregon Project.
Farah split with Salazar in 2017, the year in which Salazar was first charged by Usada.
Following the judgement against Salazar, UK Sport has held talks with UK Athletics. UK Sport has awarded £27m of public funding to UK Athletics in the current Olympic cycle.
A UK Sport spokesperson said: "The board of UK Athletics is now, quite rightly, taking some time to review Usada's arbitration decision in full, and we will discuss this with them before making any further comment.
"As the government's agency for high performance sport, UK Sport has always, and continues to, take a zero-tolerance stance on doping.
"What doping steals from athletes is irreplaceable, and it is vital to the integrity of sport that athletes around the world are protected and able to compete on a level playing field."