Alberto Salazar - Post-competitive Career

Post-competitive Career

Currently employed by Nike, Salazar has stayed connected with the sport as coach of the Nike Oregon Project. Aimed at producing Olympic-caliber athletes, project members who have trained under Salazar's tutelage include Alan Webb, Mo Farah, Galen Rupp, Adam Goucher, Kara Goucher, Dan Browne, Amy Yoder Begley, and Dathan Ritzenhein. His connection to Oregon and Oregon Sports gave him the distinction of being inducted the Oregon Sports Hall of Fame in 1997. In August 2012 at the London Summer Olympics, two of Salazar's Olympic-caliber athletes, Mo Farah and Galen Rupp, finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the 10,000m; Mo Farah also went to win gold in the 5,000m becoming the first British double Olympian in long distance.

Salazar ran in the ING New York Marathon in 2006, at age 48, serving as a pacesetter for cyclist Lance Armstrong, who was attempting his first marathon. Salazar was primarily responsible for guiding Armstrong for the first 10 miles (16 km) of the race, while Joan Benoit Samuelson oversaw the next 10 miles (16 km), and Hicham El Guerrouj the final 6.2 miles (10.0 km). With their help, Armstrong met his goal of completing the race under three hours, finishing in 2:59:36.

On Saturday, June 30, 2007, he experienced a serious "heart event" and was rushed to the hospital. On Sunday, July 1 he was reported to be "groggy" by his family and remained listed in serious condition. On July 2, doctors upgraded his condition from "serious" to "fair". They also confirmed it was a heart attack. He was released from hospital on July 8.

On June 26, 2008, on the eve of the US Olympic trials, Salazar was taken to the hospital again, for dehydration and high blood pressure. He attributes this partially to the stress of coaching five Olympic-hopeful athletes. Afterwards, doctors adjusted his medications, but do not believe that there was any further injury to the heart. He returned to the track to coach his athletes through the trials.