Salazar used athletes as 'guinea pigs': USADA chief

Top track coach Alberto Salazar, banned for four years following a doping probe, used athletes as "guinea pigs", the US Anti-Doping Agency's chief Travis Tygart told German broadcaster ZDF.

The World Athletics Championships, currently taking place in Doha, has been rocked by the scandal and Salazar has been stripped of his accreditation for the event.

Salazar has denied ever doping his athletes and says he will appeal.

Tygart told ZDF on Wednesday that athletes in Salazar's Nike-backed Oregon Project (NOP) training group were kept in the dark about the substances they were given, including whether they were illegal.

Tygart said the methods used by Salazar and doctors working with NOP were "simply unacceptable".

"The athletes really had no idea what they were being given, the dosages, whether the methods were prohibited or not. They were simply sent to a doctor and told, 'you've got to listen to the doctor'."
"I hope Nike sees this as a wake-up call," Tygart said, Nike has backed Salazar in his decision to appeal the ban, adding: "Nike does not condone the use of banned substances in any manner."