Mo Farah case raises concern over protection for athletes

UK Athletics' approach to athlete welfare has been questioned following revelations that Mo Farah was injected with a controversial supplement ahead of the 2014 London Marathon.

Farah was given L-carnitine before the event, with the drug being sourced from Switzerland by UKA’s head of endurance Barry Fudge and administered to the runner despite concerns of its “possible side-effects”.

And Damian Collins, who chaired the DCMS select committee which previously investigated the L-carnitine episode in 2017, raised questions about protection for British athletes.

“I do have concerns,” he said. “Athletes put trust in the teams around them. If reassured that this is fine and above board, they’re going to trust them. What’s happened here seems highly irregular around one of our greatest Olympians. A proper review of what happened needs to take place to avoid this happening again.”

UKA defended their position on athlete welfare. In a statement, they said: “UKA personnel took steps throughout to ensure that full and honest accounts of the process were given in all forums. Any suggestion to the contrary is false and misleading.”

Fudge had raised questions whether the medication, which is legal under WADA rules at certain levels, was within “the spirit of the sport” and Collins said it raised a wider issue of ethics around medication.

He added: “I think the standard that should be set is that medical treatment is for medical need not enhancement.”