Christine Ohuruogu admits it has been a mixed week for British athletics
Monday 8 June 2015 12:16, UK
Christine Ohuruogu says British athletics is in ‘a really great place’ but admits the past week has been difficult for the sport.
The Olympic 400m silver medallist has sympathy for Mo Farah, who was forced to withdraw from Sunday’s Diamond League meeting in Birmingham due to stress.
Double Olympic champion Farah appeared angry at a press conference on Saturday where he was questioned about doping allegations levelled at his coach Alberto Salazar.
But while the story has brought negative publicity to British athletics, Ohuruogu insists the emergence of several young athletes combined with the consistent performances of its more established ones is a cause for positivity.
Adam Gemili ran the 100m in under 10 seconds for the first time in his career at Birmingham, while Olympic gold medallist Greg Rutherford won the long jump and Dina Asher-Smith recorded a personal best in the 200m.
“We had some fantastic performances at Birmingham and it was great that they were done on home soil – that’s one of the ambitions of any athlete, to compete as well as they can in front of their own crowd,” Ohuorugu, who missed the Diamond League event due to injury, told Sky Sports News HQ.
“British athletics is in a really great place at the moment and it will be exciting to see how everyone gets on, not just the younger ones but the regular fixtures as well.”
No suggestions were made of Farah being implicated and the 32-year-old said on Saturday he had no intention of leaving Salazar, who he has been working with in Oregon since early 2011.
UK Athletics also said there were 'absolutely no concerns' over Salazar's working relationship with Farah.
Ohuruogu has some sympathy for Farah, who became a national icon with his performances at the London Olympics three years ago.
“It’s been quite a difficult week for athletics and I felt a bit of sympathy for Mo because they are just accusations and allegations,” she said.
“Nothing much can be done until the proper authorities get to the bottom of this and the stories that have come out.”
