The rumours of nefarious behaviour at the Nike Oregon Project have been circulating for some time. Finally, though, some substantial progress towards gaining proof seems to have been made.

The training group, based in Portland, Oregon and led by head coach Alberto Salazar, has some of the world’s best long-distance athletes on its books, including America’s Galen Rupp and Matthew Centrowitz Jr, as well as GB’s very own Mo Farah.

The Project’s initial appeal was that Salazar used new coaching methods and innovative sports-science techniques in order to help his athletes excel. However, the revolutionary methods quickly attracted criticism and suspicion; as early as 2002, just a year after its formation, the group came under scrutiny from the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) which formed a think-tank to discuss the Project’s use of a ‘high-altitude house’, built with the ability to remove oxygen from the air and so simulate living at high-altitude.

Since that first red flag, things have got considerably worse for the Nike Oregon Project. In 2015, serious allegations were made against Salazar, saying that he had doped Rupp and skirted regulations regarding prescription drugs. There were allegations that testosterone gel had been used, pills had been delivered in hollowed-out books and Salazar pushed athletes to use thyroid drugs because of their side-effects, which can help weight loss. In light of these revelations, news surfaced that the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) were opening their own investigation into the Nike Oregon Project.

In the past two years, no official news has been released by USADA regarding their findings around the Nike Oregon Project, but things have not gone well for Salazar. Ex-athlete after ex-athlete told their stories in the newspapers about corrupt, or at least morally dubious, practices in his training group. Suspicion around every athlete based there rose dramatically and Farah’s reputation was badly damaged by his association with Salazar and the Nike Oregon Project.

Finally, though, this week, what seems to be more concrete evidence around the Project has surfaced. An American website has obtained what it believes to be the internal USADA report on Salazar and the Project – and it is damning. The 269-page document reports that six Project athletes committed anti-doping violations in the form of L-carnitine infusions. And that Salazar was lying to his athletes about what was permitted, meaning the athletes believed everything they were doing was entirely legal.

The report also paints Salazar as a man with the keys to a medicine cabinet which was easily accessible to his athletes. It is reported that he provided or helped them gain access to prescription-dose vitamin D, calcitonin, ferrous sulphate, Advair, testosterone and various thyroid medications, even though many of these drugs have no proven benefits for runners or the athletes had no medical need for them.

While grievous, these allegations are far from surprising. There has, in many people’s view, including my own, been too much smoke for there to be no fire. Salazar has strenuously denied every single allegation made against him, but he has long come across as a man who will do anything in his power to improve his athletes’ performances, regardless of whether or not his practices may cause long-term damage. The one sticking point to date though has been that the only evidence against Salazar has been athlete testimonies; there has been little concrete proof of any wrong-doing.

This report has not, as yet, been officially released by USADA, so only time will tell if these findings are the end point and in turn, what action will be taken. But what is most worrying about these findings apropos the Nike Oregon Project is that these practices were happening right under the noses of anti-doping officials. America should have one of the most sophisticated anti-doping programmes in the world yet, if the findings of this report are confirmed, it will show that doping abuses and morally reprehensible practices have been going on for a decade and a half. It also begs the question: if this has been going on in America where anti-doping is relatively advanced, what is going on in countries like Kenya and Ethiopia where it is well-known that anti-doping testing is virtually non-existent?

If Salazar and his athletes have been effectively hiding in plain sight and getting away with it then what are athletes who know that the testers are unlikely to turn up doing? Salazar’s methods also give an indication of how far certain coaches will go in the pursuit of success. This is, again, no surprise but reopens the discussion about how important it is for whistleblowers to have an easy – and safe – method of revealing information. In recent times, athletes like former Salazar charges, Kara Goucher and Steve Magness have felt that the media was their only option and this limitation has surely played a part in the Nike Oregon Project being able to push the boundaries to such an extent for the past 15 years. Salazar’s training group has produced numerous Olympic champions in recent years, but if USADA ultimately confirm the findings of this report, it seems impossible to imagine the Project will last much longer.