Flanagan said Nike will have to evaluate how they format teams like the Oregon Project in the futuregetty images
Recently retired U.S. long-distance runner Shalane Flanagan, whose sponsor Nike worked closely with recently banned running coach Alberto Salazar, said she guesses Nike is "a bit shocked to some degree" by Salazar's ban and subsequent shut down of the company's Oregon Project program, according to Matthew Futterman of the N.Y. TIMES. Flanagan said Nike will "evaluate how they format these teams in the future." Asked if Nike had done enough to make her feel that other Nike athletes will not be tainted by this news, Flanagan said, "They are currently looking at the situation. ... It's a big liability for them. It's very complicated. I'm proud of the U.S. Anti-Doping Agency and the efforts they put forth and their commitment to clean sport." Asked if she was surprised by the reports that outgoing Nike Chair, President & CEO Mark Parker was kept in the loop about the Oregon Project through emails about experiments with PEDs, Flanagan said, "We train on the Nike campus, but we very much stick to our neck of the woods. We kind of quarantine ourselves. ... That said, I'm surprised but not surprised by the situation that unfolded. I trained with [U.S. long-distance runner] Kara Goucher sometimes and I was privy to what she was going through, so I am not completely ignorant on the subject. As for Mark Parker's interactions, I was unaware of those" (N.Y. TIMES, 10/31).
