REVEALED: UK Athletics chiefs' held mystery meeting on controversial use of thyroid medication in 2014

  • In 2014 UK Athletics called a special meeting with the English Institute of Sport 
  • The key topic was the controversial use of thyroid medication on elite athletes 
  • At the time Alberto Salazar, now banned for doping offences, was a consultant
  • Thyroxine is not banned and does not require a therapeutic-use exemption

UK Athletics called a special meeting with the English Institute of Sport to discuss the controversial use of thyroid medication on elite athletes.

The meeting was held in 2014, while Alberto Salazar, now banned for doping offences, was a distance-running consultant for UK Athletics. It was attended by a UK Anti-Doping official and a representative of the British Thyroid Association.

Thyroxine, a drug designed to alleviate a deficiency of thyroid in the body, is not banned and does not require a therapeutic-use exemption under current doping laws.

Alberto Salazar was banned for four years by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in October

Alberto Salazar was banned for four years by the US Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) in October

However, in the UK it does require a doctor to diagnose a genuine thyroid issue and sign off a prescription.


In recent years, thyroxine has been widely discussed among endurance athletes as a potential means to lose weight and boost testosterone. Many experts, including Travis Tygart, the US Anti-Doping Agency chief, who ended the careers of Lance Armstrong and Marion Jones for doping offences and who led the case against Salazar, have said that its overuse is leading to a 'medicalisation of sport'.

News of the meeting has emerged in a difficult week for UK Athletics in which incoming chief executive, Zara Hyde-Peters, was forced to step down because of safeguarding issues relating to her husband's conduct and in which the governing body announced that it would hold an independent review into its retention of Salazar as a consultant and its decision to allow four-time Olympic champion Mo Salah to continue training under him.

UK Athletics doctors made a presentation at the 2014 meeting about the use of thyroid medication to the EIS and representatives. According to UKA, which is also known as British Athletics, it was a forum for discussion to ensure that the drug was only being used when genuinely necessary. 

US Anti-Doping chief Travis Tygart says thyroxine overuse will lead to ‘medicalisation of sport’

US Anti-Doping chief Travis Tygart says thyroxine overuse will lead to 'medicalisation of sport'

The EIS, which is funded by UK Sport, say that there were only five people at the meeting: two UKA doctors, the EIS medical representative, an expert on thyroid medication and a UKAD representative.

A UKA spokesperson said spokesperson said: 'In 2014 we convened a clinical group comprising British Athletics doctors, the English Institute of Sport and an endocrine specialist doctor and member of the British Thyroid Association to ensure appropriate clinical governance and develop guidelines for the investigation and treatment of hypothyroidism in athletes. 

UK Anti-Doping were also represented at this forum. The EIS has corroborated UKA's account of the meeting, saying it was to ensure the drug wasn't being misused. In addition, we have ongoing discussion with other medical colleagues, including endocrine specialists, to ensure maintenance of these high standards in the treatment of thyroid disease in athletes.' 

The EIS has corroborated that account and said that the meeting was to ensure that the drug wasn't misused. Both organisations have pointed to presence of UKAD at the meeting. UKA are also petitioning the World Ant-Doping Agency to tighten up rules on thyroid drugs so that athletes require a therapeutic-use exemption.

Despite reports this week that British athletes were offered the chance to be screened for hypothyroidism, UKA insist that only a handful take the medication and that their cohort of athletes reflects the same pattern of the general population at the same age in terms of thyroid deficiency.

Former world 10,000, champion Kara Goucher says she was offered Cytomel by Salazar

Former world 10,000, champion Kara Goucher says she was offered Cytomel by Salazar

But using Thyroxine was one of the key marginal gains employed by Salazar. Kara Goucher, former world 10,000, champion, who was the star of the Salazar training group before Farah arrived, recalled Salazar offered her Cytomel, a thyroid medication for which she did not have a prescription, prior to the Boston marathon in 2011 so she would lose weight. 

Goucher added that she 'was very concerned … because everybody on the team had hypothyroidism.'

Salazar worked closely with endocrinologist, Dr Jeffrey Brown, who is also serving a four-year ban from the sport. Both appealing against their respective bans.

In the case against them, USADA alleged that Brown was 'complicit with Salazar in prescribing excessive and dangerous levels of prescription vitamin D and thyroid medicines to NOP [Nike Oregon Project of Salazar] athletes, hoping these prescriptions would increase testosterone levels.' 

However, the panel noted that these were not anti-doping violations in themselves and Salazar and Brown received their bans for their part in infusing L-Carnitine at illegal levels and administering a testosterone experiment.

Tygart told the Mail on Sunday in October; 'One athlete [previously coached by Salazar] has to stay on thyroxanol [a thyroid drug] for the rest of their life because they were put on it wrongly and it altered their thyroid system and they now can't ever be off the drug. We have to ensure that the medicalisation of sport does not become commonplace.'

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