I really admire Rupp and even Salazar, but I still have to question things at NOP—I don't want to but feel I have to. Here's why:
It wasn't just Kara and Adam, were it just them, fine, the concept that all this stemmed from Adam lashing out at people might make sense, but it goes far beyond them.
Steve Magness was hand-picked by Salazar to come to NOP and bring his scientific expertise to the program. Al's choosing someone for their biomedical knowledge as well as coaching skills, and of all people worldwide he picks Magness, who rather quickly starts to smell a rat. When Magness speaks out about supposed doping, he risks his own career and integrity if he's found to be wrong. Yet he speaks out.
A massage therapist who worked for NOP also expressed concerns about doping.
The BBC and ProPublica investigate and I'll tell you, working in journalism these two organizations will not report on something if they cannot find concrete basis to do so. This isn't BuzzFeed, these are two leading, long-standing, investigative news organizations. The BBC is arguably the most-respected of all news media worldwide. Epstein is one of the most-respected writers in sports journalism and has a masters in environmental science so he knows science about as well as he knows running.
You have a variety of people who were undoubtably in a position to see things first-hand, if there was anything fishy to see. You have a journalist and news organizations known for their integrity investigating. Salazar's long rebuttal letter explains how some things could have been misunderstood but contains real gems of absurdity, such as how they rubbed a banned gel on his own son's skin to see if it would show up in lab tests in case competitors tried such a trick on NOP athletes . . . really?! I mean, come on, guys. You want us to believe you're really testing the detectability of a banned substance in case competitors try to sabotage you by rubbing it on Rupp or something?
Again, I'm a fan of Rupp, but when I read the ProPublica report then Salazar's response it read like a classic case of quality investigative work vs a classic case of absurd corporate PR defense. It goes way beyond a tearful Kara Goucher.