Wow - that was long. Kudos to USADA for being so thorough.
First, to everyone out there claiming "spirit of the sport" or "if you're clean then why hide...." - let's be honest here. As a defense attorney, you are not going to subject your client to anything they are not obligated to do. Particularly when the inquisitor is trying to pop you for something. Allegations can be thrown about all they want - but that's all they are - allegations.
For USADA to sanction NOP and have that upheld on appeal, I wonder if it will require a "smoking gun" - meaning, someone fails a drug test and in exchange for leniency gives up the whole system, or USADA directly catches someone in the midst of receiving some infusion or other banned treatment. There is enough here to raise a number of flags and the other part of me therefore wonders whether USADA wants to work out a deal with the TMB and Dr. Brown - perhaps that in exchange for leniency, Dr. Brown perhaps gives up some pertinent information? USADA's reluctance to bring sanctions at this point makes me wonder what its plan is and because they're focusing in on conduct in 2009-2015, they're going to be running out of time for some of the sanctions, soon. This report also makes Dr. Brown look as shady as the BALCO folks from the early 2000s.
Based on the BATES labeling, there are well over 10,000 pages of documents out there that are part of this investigation. These will include the statements of the athletes, e-mails, etc.... You get your hands on some of that information, you will have yourself a gold mine. Some of the interesting little tidbits summarized below piqued my curiosity to say the least:
Page 8 - USADA is going to claim a joint prosecution defense to any communications between the two entities should NOP or any other entity ever subpoena their files/communications. One day, NIKE's outside counsel is going to have a field day fighting them for this.
Pages 27-28 - makes it appear that Dr. Brown and NOP no longer have much of a relationship.
Page 32 - Good move by Nike - Rupp and Salazar would speak under oath but their statements could not be used against them for any rules violations.
Page 34 - Funny that it was Adam Goucher who introduced Salazar to Dr. Brown.
Page 41 - Rupp taking testosterone supplements as young as 16. I can only wonder how his internal organs will function when his career is said and done.
Page 47 - Chris Solinsky treated with Dr. Brown and apparently Salazar sent him?? (page 85) I thought he was always a Schumacher athlete......
Page 54 - Coach Wetmore sends athletes to Dr. Brown
Page 112 - Wow. The nasal spray. Makes me feel bad for Ritz. Must be a welcome feeling to take something for four years and then find out it could make you more susceptible to cancer.
Page 200 - The change to the medical record to make the treatment appear (more??) legal. Dumb move. The doctor's scribbling is also perfect. Hard to read, hard to interpret. Retroactive changes to medical records are never a good idea.
Page 268 - No evidence Farah has done this L-Caratine program with Dr. Brown. I was actually surprised by that. Maybe he just sees someone else?
If any of these athletes ever develop a condition that was caused by misleading advice/instruction, then NIKE/Salazar/Brown could be exposed to a lawsuit somewhere down the road. Reading some of these paragraphs, it looks like some of these athletes were treated like guinea pigs. There has to be some kind of harm from it all, and a causal nexus between the various treatments, failure to obtain informed consent, and the injuries ....
I do genuinely feel bad for some of these athletes who felt as though they had to (possibly) sacrifice their long term health to keep the almighty NIKE contract. At some point it would be nice to see the IAAF and other governing bodies wake up and realize that this type of pressure is exactly what an athlete faces when there can be only one sponsor on the singlet.