Controversial Career of Pro Runner Galen Rupp
Galen Rupp is slated to run in the upcoming New York Marathon for the first time this Sunday, November 6th. This will be his first time running in New York, making it the third marathon major he has run. He has previously run Boston and Chicago, the latter of which he won in a time of 2:09:20. Rupp has been the top American marathon runner since 2016 when he first ran the marathon in the US Olympic Trials, going on to get third at the Rio Olympic marathon in a time of 2:10:05. He has continued the dominance of US marathoning since then, setting his marathon personal best of 2:06:21 at the Prague marathon in 2018 and winning the US Olympic trials again in 2020.
However, Rupp’s title as the top US marathoner is now in jeopardy, as he is 35 and Connor Mantz, a top D1 runner from BYU, made his marathon de- but this year. Mantz ran 2:08:16 which was the fastest debut time in the marathon ever for an American runner. This is very promising, as Rupp was the first American to win an Olympic marathon medal since Meb Keflezighi won silver in the 2004 Athens Olympics. If Mantz has a similar progression in his marathon personal best to Rupp, he will be a top competitor internationally.
Rupp’s success throughout his professional track and marathon career is not without its controversy. There have been many accusations of Rupp doping during his career and his longtime coach, Alberto Salazar, was given a four-year ban for doping by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The ban was for using prescription drugs for other than their intended purpose and interfering with the doping testing process. Not only does this cast a shadow on Rupp’s achievements, but there have been numerous allegations against Rupp for doping.
To begin, Rupp was allegedly taking testosterone as young as 16 when first coached by Salazar. He also has a prescription for asthma and thyroid problems. What makes this controversial is that the drugs used to treat these conditions are also very beneficial for running. Asthma medications help to carry more oxygen to the lungs, which is essential for distance runners. Thyroid cream stimulates hormone production, which can lead to faster times and has been abused by other runners. While these are not inherently wrong, given their history of abuse and the fact that Rupp did not initially report his use of them, they arouse suspicion.
Despite all of this, Rupp has never failed a drug test throughout his impressive professional running career. In addition, he has not had a decrease in performance since parting ways from Salazar as his coach; running his marathon personal best after parting ways with Salazar. This weekend he looks to prove he is still the premier US marathoner.