Usain Bolt has sympathy for Mo Farah
Thursday 23 July 2015 18:01, UK
Usain Bolt has expressed his sympathy for Mo Farah following the doping allegations surrounding the Briton's coach.
Farah, like Bolt, will be in action at the Anniversary Games in east London on Friday night and the London 2012 double gold medallist has come under heavy scrutiny in recent weeks after it was alleged Alberto Salazar, head coach at the Nike Oregon Project in Portland, had violated anti-doping rules.
The 32-year-old Farah has not been accused of any wrong-doing, while Salazar himself has strongly denied the allegations.
Bolt said: "I've come through the ranks with Mo, so I've seen the work that he's put in. For me I'm sorry for Mo, because every day I hear in the papers they're trying to tear him down. I think he works so hard.
"To get where he is, for somebody's mistake to be causing him problems, for me I just really hope that he doesn't take it too seriously and it doesn't stress him out. It's part of the sport, people like to point fingers sometimes."
It's part of the sport, people like to point fingers sometimes
Bolt and Farah are good friends - they memorably posed on the podium at London 2012 performing one another's signature poses - and share an agent in Ricky Simms.
The Jamaican sprinter added: "When you come through difficult times like this you don't try to get into someone's personal space too much. I've relayed messages to Ricky, I've talked to Ricky to see where his head space is at.
"He says he's okay, he's just trying to focus on the championships and training hard. I know I'll see him this weekend so we can talk."
