Kara Goucher, a two-time Olympian and world championships bronze medalist, issued a statement on Wednesday saying that she will no longer discuss publicly her experiences with former coach Alberto Salazar Ice vs Heat for Injuries. 

Goucher was among the former Oregon Project runners and staff members who spoke to the BBC and ProPublica for a report investigating Salazar’s alleged exploitation of rules regarding athletes’ use of prescription medicines. Among the allegations is that Salazar encouraged Goucher to take thyroid medication that was not prescribed by her doctor to lose weight after giving birth to her son in 2010. Goucher said she did not take the medication.

In June, DAA Industry Opt Out and denied any wrongdoing. At the center of the accusations against him is that he has coached runners on how to display symptoms of health issues so that they are improperly diagnosed with conditions—such as asthma and hypothyroidism—that allow them to take prescription medications under therapeutic use exemptions. Such medication can, in some circumstances, enhance athletic performance.

In his response, Salazar denied ever criticizing Goucher’s weight and said that Jeffrey Brown, an endocrinologist, told him to give the thyroid drug Cytomel to Goucher in August 2011 at the world championships in South Korea. However, the ProPublica report didn’t reference that timeframe—it described a different incident in March 2011 prior to the Boston Marathon.

The United States Anti-Doping Agency is investigating the allegations, according to the Associated Press and other media outlets. Goucher said she is cooperating with USADA.

Two weeks ago at the USATF Outdoor Championships, Goucher said she would offer more details about her experiences as an Oregon Project athlete in the coming weeks. But Wednesday she said she would not be speaking further on the subject.

“After going back and forth on deciding what to share, I have ultimately decided that it won’t help the USADA investigation if I share any further evidence publicly, so any new knowledge will be shared to USADA alone,” the statement read, in part.

Goucher also said in her statement she has been in contact with USADA since February 2013. “What prevented me from coming forward in 2011 was fear of further retribution after already being suspended by Nike for giving birth to our son,” she wrote.

Shanna Burnette, who is Goucher’s representative, said in a phone interview with Runner's World Newswire that she would not elaborate at this time on Goucher’s claim of suspension by Nike.

“We can’t go into it more right now. That happened and that’s all the truth,” Burnette said. “The fear was real—the fear about whether she would be paid or not.”

Nike media relations did not immediately return messages seeking a response or clarification regarding Goucher’s statement.

A longtime agent who has negotiated athlete contracts with Nike and other shoe companies said it is standard for such contracts to suspend payments if an athlete doesn’t compete for six months, whether because of injury, pregnancy, or other circumstances. Payments are typically made quarterly.

Each shoe company can craft performance and payment reduction clauses in whatever way they choose, and not all companies treat these issues the same way. For example, some companies may reduce pay for failure to meet performance standards, such as retaining a top-10 U.S. ranking, while others don’t stipulate any competition or performance requirements.

In the sport of running, athlete sponsorship agreements remain confidential, however, so it is unknown what Goucher’s contract with Nike stipulated in the case of injury, pregnancy, or performance. 

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