the times | Monday February 21 2022 2GM 61
Sport
him saying there are allegations about
him and this athlete and some
questionable activities.”
Taylor says that Reider admitted
holding hands with the athlete, saying
it was for safety reasons because
Eugene can be a dangerous place.
Taylor raises his eyebrows, describing
Eugene as a “college town”.
“For me it was something that just
didn’t add up,” he says.
Yet Taylor remained in Reider’s
group. He says it developed into a
professional relationship built on a
businesslike approach. He paid Reider
to coach him, trained hard, and away
from the track he had his own life.
“In the past ten years we probably
had five meals together,” Taylor says.
“I’m very compartmentalised. This is
why I can comfortably meet you. I
cannot say, 100 per cent, that any of
the allegations were true. I did not
witness it.
“But we worked well together, and
that was what kept us together. Off
the track I would say, ‘Love to your
family, do what you need to do.’ And I
would have my life. I was the same
with the group. I lived in a different
part of town. I trained and would
go.
“It is a tightrope. Everyone is in the
sport to be the best version of
themselves. When we started he was
so attentive to detail, and we were
very successful early on. Why would I
try to fix something if it’s not broken?”
There was, however, a breaking
point and Taylor is now concerned
for the athletes who remain with
Reider. “From the athlete advocacy
side it worries me because I think
about their wellbeing,” he says. “Iassociated with it. He knows where I
stand on doping.”
Gemili, the 2014 European 200m
champion, may have tried to distance
himself from Okagbare in our all too
brief exchange but Taylor says she
was very much part of a group that
comprises 20 or more professional
athletes, the majority of whom pay
Reider tens of thousands of dollars
each year to coach them. One source
described it as “a very successful
business”.
“Blessing joined us after Doha [the
2019 World Championships],” Taylor
says. “And someone like her would
have trained with the guys for some
sessions. The 100m and 200m guys
would generally do stuff together;
block starts, tempo sessions.
“For me, it was quite frustrating
that somebody so close to you — we
trained a metre apart — can be doing
something you are fighting the most.
“I’m happy that the hammer came
down. If you’re not going to do it the
right way, don’t be part of the sport. I
believe in ‘one and done’ when it
comes to doping, and at her age I’d
say she’s done.”
Over the years, Taylor perhaps
showed greater tolerance towards
Reider. He was aware of rumours and
allegations, the situation in Eugene in
2014 among them, but says he always
employed a very businesslike
approach to working with the coach
and never witnessed any wrongdoing.
Taylor does, however, paint a picture
of a group that led an almost nomadic
existence, moving from one country
to the next, or one US state to the
next, often in the wake of fresh
allegations or some other controversy.
“He recruited me to go to the
University of Florida in 2008 and
within a few months he was gone,
before I had even competed in my
first collegiate meet,” Taylor says.
“There were allegations but I didn’t
even know him. I was thinking, what
just happened? This was January
2009, the last time we were together
until just before 2011 in Daegu
[Taylor’s first world title].
“There’s been a lot of... I’m trying
to find the most politically correct way
of saying it... drama maintenance. It’s
not been a smooth ride. There was
always something buzzing around and
many moves, from Loughborough toArnhem, Daytona, Atlanta. There was
a constant storm in the background, I
would say since we moved to
Loughborough. That was draining.
We could never train and be at
peace.” He recalls the issue in Eugene
in 2014. Taylor, by then an Olympic
champion, competed in an exhibition
event at the junior championships. He
recalls how he did not see Reider,
even though his coach was there.
“I remember being very frustrated,
not being able to see him,” he says.
“And then, days later, I’m at the
Diamond League in Monaco and I get
a call, again drama maintenance, with“
I’m happy the hammer
came down. If you’re not
going to do it right, don’t
be part of the sport
and other British athletes that they
would be removed from the lottery-
funded World Class Programme if
they did not leave Reider, 51, to find
a new coach.
On Friday, Okagbare, the
33-year-old from Nigeria
who has won Olympic
and World
Championship medals
in the 200m and long
jump, received a
doping ban of ten
years.
Taylor, 31, who is
also the president of
the Athletics
Association, said of
his decision to leave
Reider’s camp: “The
grand slam was the
SafeSport thing [the
allegations of sexual
misconduct].
“That’s when I said,
‘Enough is enough.’ So
I can genuinely say
I’m surprised that they
[the British athletes]
stayed [in Reider’s
camp].”
Taylor, who called the
abuse allegations around
Reider “disturbing”, added:
“I applaud British Athletics
for applying that pressure.
It’s bold of them to make
that statement and send
that message out to
athletes and coaches.
You need to draw
the line somewhere.
“I’m surprised
that the athletes
stayed.”think about what they are dealing
with. We talk about drama
maintenance. I know the weight it
had on me.
“Omar McLeod has stepped away
and I see him every day now. We talk
about the peace we have at training,
the joy we have at training, because
he was feeling this weight with all
this. I worry about the mental state of
these athletes.”
Have those who have stayed made
a mistake? “I can’t say ‘mistake’
because we all have our own paths,”
Taylor says. “But for me, personally,
this is about values and principles.”
He nevertheless says he is
“surprised” that two British athletes
remain in the group. “I applaud British
Athletics for applying that pressure,”
he says. “It’s bold of them to make
that statement and send that message
out to athletes and coaches. You need
to draw the line somewhere. So, yeah,
I’m surprised the athletes stayed.”
Gemili is on the board of the
Athletics Association, and in the past
has been vocal on matters concerning
athletes’ rights. Taylor says he has
arranged to meet him, having not
seen the Briton since April last year.
“And these are the things I’d like to
speak to him about,” Taylor says.
“Like, what’s your mindset? What are
you thinking? The last thing I want is
for Rana to come to me and say, ‘Hey,
you’re recruiting, brainwashing.’ But
never has it been more important to
fight for the voice of athletes.”
It will be interesting to see how
Gemili responds. On Friday, the
Tumbleweed Track Club just wanted
to shut those big metal gates of
Hodges Stadium on the world.Taylor: I had
to draw a line
somewhere
Clockwise from
top left: Gemili
with Reider in
Jacksonville; the
club’s training
ground; Okagbare
competing at
Tokyo 2020;
Tumbleweed
athletes including
De Grasse (far
left), Okagbare
(second right) and
Gemili (far right)
before TokyoBOA chief
wants lifetime
ban for Ujah
Owen Slot Chief Sports Writer, BeijingThe chief executive of the British
Olympic Association has said that CJ
Ujah should not be allowed to compete
for Team GB again.
The British 4x100m relay team —
Richard Kilty, Zharnel Hughes,
Nethaneel Mitchell-Blake and Ujah —
were stripped of the silver medals that
they won at last year’s Tokyo Games on
Friday after Ujah, 27, tested positive for
ostarine and S-23, two banned substan-
ces that can be used as an alternative to
anabolic steroids.
Kilty said on Saturday that he would
never forgive Ujah, who blamed the
positive test on contaminated supple-
ments. The Court of Arbitration for
Sport dismissed that defence. Ujah
must wait to discover what sanctions he
will receive from the Athletics Integrity
Unit; he faces up to a four-year ban.
The BOA said on Friday that it was
“incredibly disappointed”, and Andy
Anson, the chief executive, has reiter-
ated his criticism of Ujah, adding that
although he would struggle to
enforce a lifetime ban from the Olym-
pics, that would be his preference.
“If we’re going to sit here and criticise
the Russians for the [Kamila] Valieva
case, we need to be as tough as possibly
can be when doping happens in the
UK,” Anson said.
“If it was down to me personally
someone found guilty of a doping
offence would never compete for Team
GB again. I’m not sure legally I’d always
win that battle but that’s how I feelabout it. We’ve got to feel like that,
right? We’ve got to be able to sit here
and say we’re doing something about it.”
Valieva, the 15-year-old Russian
figure skater, tested positive for
performance-enhancing drugs but was
allowed to continue competing at the
Winter Olympics in Beijing.
Anson found the Valieva case
“horrific” and said that he pushed for
discussions with the IOC, saying that
“the entourage needed thoroughly
investigating” and that “it sounded like
they [the IOC] listened”.
Anson said that he supported a
deeper investigation into Russian
doping and that, “if the investigation
into Valieva found that this was part of
a sporting system that was doping
deliberately, of course we’d support a
much harsher ban”.
He also said: “We’d support a review
of age limits across sport and we think
it needs to be looked at properly.”
This is a delicate topic. Team GB took
a 13-year-old, Sky Brown, to the Tokyo
Olympics and she won a bronze medal
in skateboarding. “The vital element
was to put the right safeguarding
protection in place around Sky Brown,”
Anson said. “We fought really hard to
make sure her father could be with her
at all times and she had a safe
environment.”
On Friday, the BOA apologised to
those athletes moved into the silver and
bronze-medal positions after the
British team’s disqualification.
“Having spent the last few years ret-
rospectively awarding numerous ath-
letes with medals they should have won
on the day at Beijing 2008, London
2012 and Sochi 2014, we understand the
hurt and loss doping can cause,” it said.Ujah tested positive
after winning relay
silver in Tokyocontinued from back