Former Nike track coach and marathon champ Alberto Salazar gets lifetime ban for sexual and emotional misconduct after female runners accused him of abuse

Track coach Alberto Salazar has been permanently banned by the US Center for SafeSport for sexual and emotional misconduct.

Salazar has 10 days to appeal the decision, which was handed down Monday. The SafeSport center does not reveal details of investigations, so the specific sexual misconduct allegations remain unknown, publicly. 

In 2019, a handful of runners, including Mary Cain, Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley, revealed that they had been emotionally and physically abused while working with Salazar as part of the Nike Oregon Project team.

In this August 21, 2015, file photo, Alberto Salazar watches a training session for the World Athletic Championships at the Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing. Salazar has been permanently banned by the US Center for SafeSport for sexual and emotional misconduct. Salazar has 10 days to appeal the decision

In 2019, a handful of runners, including Mary Cain , Kara Goucher and Amy Yoder Begley , revealed that they had been emotionally and physically abused while working with Salazar as part of the Nike Oregon Project team

Kara Goucher runs in the Womens 5,000 Meter during day four of the 2015 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on June 28, 2015 in Eugene, Oregon. Goucher is among several runners who came forward to accuse Salazar of emotional abuse 

In January 2020, SafeSport temporarily banned Salazar. The decision Monday makes it a permanent ban, pending any appeal.

USA Track and Field said it received notification of the ban and updated Salazar's status in its own disciplinary records database.

'No form of abuse will ever be tolerated within our sport, and we will continue to prioritize athletes´ emotional and physical safety above all else,' the federation said in a statement.

The 62-year-old Salazar, who won the Boston and New York Marathons in the early 1980s and went on to coach a cadre of Olympic medalists including Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, did not immediately respond to an email from The Associated Press seeking comment.

Alberto Salazar crosses the finish line of the Boston Marathon, winning in 2:08:51, in 1982

His sanction was handed down as the Court of Arbitration for Sport considers an appeal of a separate case that led to Salazar's four-year ban for doping-related offenses.

In 1996, Salazar's runner, Mary Decker, was banned by the IAAF over her testosterone levels. 

Then, in 2019, Salazar received the doping ban after a six-year investigation determined he had possessed and trafficked testosterone while also experimenting with athletes on how far they could push the envelope with certain performance enhancers without getting caught.

Shortly after the decision, Nike shuttered Salazar's running club.

Cain, who was 17 when she began training with Salazar's team, the Oregon Project, claimed she was told by coaches that she needed to be 'thinner and thinner and thinner' if she hoped to compete at the top level.

She also insisted that the company allow an independent party to investigate Salazar.

The Cuban-born Salazar has denied the allegations made by Cain, who was with the Oregon Project until 2016, as well as the doping claims.

Galen Rupp talks with Alberto Salazar after the Mens 5,000 Meter during day four of the 2015 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on June 28, 2015 in Oregon

Nike employees in Beaverton, Oregon protested on the company campus in 2019 when the company re-opened a building named for Salazar.  

Female and male employees held signs bearing such slogans as 'Do The Right Thing' and 'We Believe Mary,' the latter of which is a reference to Cain, a distance runner who quit a Nike-funded track team before claiming in a New York Times op-ed that she was 'emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by coach Alberto and endorsed by Nike.'

Salazar watches the Men's 10,000 meter run during day one of the 2015 USA Outdoor Track & Field Championships at Hayward Field on June 25, 2015 in Eugene

Another sign read, 'Nike is a woman,' in reference to the mythological Greek god.  

The march, which was first reported by the Willamette Week, coincided with the re-opening of the recently renovated Alberto Salazar building. The picketing was calm and orderly, and the protesters were never dispersed or interfered with, according to the Willamette Week article.

Cain was present for the march, and posted pictures on social media. 

Protesters organized the march by distributing fliers, one of which reportedly warned against speaking to the press for fear of provoking retribution from Nike.

In a statement, the company denied being responsible for that particular flier: 'We respect and welcome employees' feedback on matters that are important to them.'

The organizers explained in one flier that the march was organized to 'celebrate what women bring to sport and to champion equality.'

According to the Wall Street Journal, several Nike executives joined the march and had a dialogue with participants. 

Nike employees in Beaverton, Oregon protested on the company campus in 2019 when the company re-opened a building named for Salazar. Female and male employees held signs bearing such slogans as 'Do The Right Thing' and 'We Believe Mary,' the latter of which is a reference to Cain, a distance runner who quit a Nike-funded track team before claiming in a New York Times op-ed that she was 'emotionally and physically abused by a system designed by coach Alberto and endorsed by Nike'