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Marcel Jacobs and Fred Kerley make coaching changes ahead of Olympic Games

Fred Kerley and Marcel Jacobs failed to impress at the 2023 World Championships in Budapest, something that might have forced them to change coaches.

Reigning Olympic champion Marcel Jacobs has landed a new coach ahead of his title defense campaign at the Paris Olympic Games in 2024.

Changing coaches will also see him relocate from his home country of Italy to Florida. According to NBC Sport, the 28-year-old will be coached by Rana Reider.

Reider’s athlete group in Jacksonville has included 2022 World 100m bronze medalist Trayvon Bromell.

Previously, the Italian was coached by Paolo Camossi for several years. The tactician guided Jacobs to take the delayed 2020 Olympic title in the 100m and it is clear Jacobs will not be working with him as he gears up to defend his Olympic title.

On his part, Reider is a controversial coach who has landed himself in trouble most of the time. In May this year, Reider agreed to serve one year of probation, while continuing to coach, in resolving a case with the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

The center handles allegations of emotional, physical, and sexual abuse in Olympic and Paralympic sports. The center has not published details of Reider’s case.

The attorney wrote that Reider acknowledged a “consensual romantic relationship with an adult athlete.” The attorney wrote that “Reider was not found in violation of any other sexual misconduct claims” and that his case was closed.

Meanwhile, former World Champion Fred Kerley also indicated in social media posts that he is now being coached by 1992 Olympic 400m gold medalist Quincy Watts.

Kerley was also eliminated in the 100m semifinals at last month’s World Championships and will be seeking a comeback next year.

“Choosing to make changes is always risky, even riskier during a year like the Olympics. I felt that I needed to bet on myself.

I needed to prove to myself that I was all in and that meant seeking the guidance of COACH WATTS I’m entrusting him to bring out the best version of myself in the most important athletic year of my career. Ya’ll ready?” the post read.

Kerley, 28, has trained under Grenada’s Alleyne Francique since he sprinted for Texas A&M. Watts, an assistant at USC, also coaches Olympic and world 400m hurdles medalist Rai Benjamin.

Sprint coach Rana Reider gets probation for sexual misconduct

On May 10, U.S. Center for SafeSport has resolved the case with high-profile sprint coach Rana Reider. Reider, who is Andre De Grasse’s former coach, admitted to having an intimate but consensual relationship with an 18-year-old female athlete, and that this presented a power imbalance. He was not found in violation of any other sexual misconduct claims for which he was under investigation.

A statement by Reider’s lawyer, Ryan Stevens, said the American coach will be placed on one-year probation by SafeSport and ordered to take an online course on SafeSport Education. Reider will be allowed to continue his elite-level coaching of sprinters and jumpers.

The 52-year-old, who had been the subject of an 18-month investigation into multiple complaints of sexual misconduct, was formally sanctioned by the U.S. Center for SafeSport on Wednesday. All other claims are now administratively closed, according to the statement. 

The violation occurred in 2014 when Reider was 44 and had an affair with a young athlete he was coaching at the 2014 World Junior Championships in Eugene, Ore.

“From the beginning, we demanded this case to be properly vetted,” said Stevens. “Rana was candid and co-operative. His stellar reputation in track and field is now restored.”

Reider previously coached high-profile athletes with his Tumbleweed Track Club in Jacksonville, Fla., including the 200m Olympic gold medallist De Grasse,in addition to U.S. sprinter Trayvon Bromell, disgraced sprinter Blessing Okagbare and British sprinters Adam Gemili and Daryll Neita (who won bronze in the women’s 4x100m relay at Tokyo 2020).

During Reider’s investigation and Okagbare’s doping scandal, De Grasse, Bromell and Neita all changed coaches heading into the 2023 season. De Grasse is now coached by Irish sprint coach John Coghlan in Orlando, Fla., training alongside his wife, U.S. hurdler Nia Ali.

Four-time NCAA champion facing six-year ban for doping violations

On Thursday morning, Athlete #2 in the Blessing Okagbare doping scandal was revealed to be her Nigerian teammate, four-time NCAA sprint champion and Tokyo Olympian Divine Oduduru. The Athletics Integrity Unit has provisionally suspended Oduduru for two potential Anti-Doping Rule Violations (ADRVs), which could result in a six-year ban from the sport.

According to a string of messages on the popular social media app WhatsApp, Okagbare (Athlete #1) sought performance-enhancing drugs from El Paso, Texas-based naturopath Eric Lira, for herself and her Nigerian teammate Oduduru. At the time (June 2021), Oduduru was dealing with a hamstring injury and was “looking for help the hamstring heal really fast.”

“Hey Eric, I just sent you $2,500, can you confirm it? And also, remember I told you (Athlete #2) had hurt his hamstring, so anything that can help the hamstring heal fast you can actually bring it as well, ok?” – (Athlete #1) Blessing Okagbare to Eric Lira on June 7, 2021.

“Hola amigo / Eric my body feels so good / I just ran 10.63 in the 100m on Friday / with a +2.7 wind / I am sooooo happy / Ericccccccc / Whatever you did, is working so well.” – (Athlete #1) Blessing Okagbare to Lira on June 22, 2021.

On July 30, 2021, Okagbare was suspended following her 100m heat at the Tokyo Olympics when it was discovered that she had tested positive for human growth hormone (HGH) in an out-of-competition test on July 19. In addition, Okagbare had tested positive for EPO on June 20, and was also charged for refusing to co-operate with the investigation.

Okagbare was later given an additional ban by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) to her existing 10-year suspension for doping violations, evading sample collections and tampering with the doping control process.

When the text messages were released in January 2022, the identity of Athlet #2 was unknown but many speculated it was a male training partner of Okagbare’s at Florida-based Tumbleweed Track Club.

Okagbare and Oduduru were both a part of the Nigerian national team program and trained together under now-controversial coach Rana Reider with Tumbleweed Track Club. Reider was also the coach of Canadian 200m Olympic champion Andre De Grasse until recently. 

Oduduru has not competed since Okagbare was suspended in January 2022.

Oduduru ran for Texas Tech University in Lubbock, Texas, where he was a four-time NCAA champion in the 100m and 200m. He also reached the Tokyo Olympic semi-finals in the 200m and holds the Nigerian national record of 19.73 seconds.

Andre De Grasse switches coaches, heading into 2024 Olympics

After a season of highs and lows, Canada’s reigning 200m Olympic champion, Andre De Grasse, has switched things up for 2023. The six-time Olympic medalist, along with his partner, 2016 Olympic medalist Nia Ali, has moved to Orlando, Fla., to work with Irish sprint coach John Coghlan, leaving his controversial coach Rana Reider, with whom he spent three seasons.

De Grasse says he wanted to stay in North America, and became interested in Coghlan’s coaching success through 100mH Olympic champion Jasmine Camacho-Quinn, who went on to win the 100 hurdles for Puerto Rico at the Tokyo Olympics, and his agent Paul Doyle.

The Canadian 200m record holder told the CBC that his mindset and motivations have changed since the last Olympic cycle. “I’m getting older, so I was just trying to do something different this time around,” said De Grasse. “I believe having a smaller crew will benefit me.”

De Grasse’s partner, Ali, won gold in the women’s 100mH at the 2019 World Championships in Qatar and has her eyes on a Team U.S.A. spot for the 2024 Games.

The 28-year-old told CBC the move was more about a fresh start heading into the 2024 Paris Olympics than controversy around his former coach and his Tumbleweed Track Club in Jacksonville, Fla. “I just wanted to try something different,” said De Grasse. “I liked the idea of Orlando, and we thought it would be a good spot for our kids as well.”

In 2022 Reider, who has guided numerous athletes to Olympic and world championship medals, was under investigation by U.S. Center for SafeSport for alleged sexual misconduct. Reider was also the coach of Nigerian sprinter Blessing Okagbare, who was suspended during the 2020 Olympic Games after a positive test for steroids; earlier this year, she was handed an 11-year suspension by the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) for multiple anti-doping offenses, on top of the original offense.

In November 2021, Athletics Canada withdrew its funding of Canadian athletes being coached by Reider, including De Grasse, due to the ongoing investigation.

At the 2022 World Championships in Eugene, Ore., where De Grasse helped Canada’s 4×100-meter relay team win gold, Reider was seen trying to enter the athlete warmup area after his coaching accreditation was revoked by World Athletics, due to his ongoing investigation, and he was removed from the premises.

The Olympic 200m champion struggled to find his fitness at the beginning of the 2022 season and was sidelined due to COVID-19 three weeks before the world championships, where he bowed out of the 100m in the semis and was listed as a DNS in the 200m heats. 

With three major championships on the calendar over the next three years, De Grasse stressed that he wants to improve. “I felt like I wanted a little bit more attention to detail and stuff like that going into my next Olympics,” De Grasse told CBC.

High-profile coach Rana Reider will be investigated for sexual misconduct

According to a report in The Guardian, Florida-based coach Rana Reider is the subject of multiple complaints of sexual misconduct, and is about to be investigated by the U.S. Center for SafeSport.

Reider’s roster of high-profile clients includes 200m Olympic gold medallist Andre De Grasse, in addition to British sprinters Adam Gemili and Daryll Neita (who won bronze in the women’s 4x100m relay at Tokyo 2020). The report claims UK Athletics has instructed its athletes to cut ties with Reider.

Sources say that Reider is also a coach to Blessing Okagbare, the Nigerian sprinter who was sent home from Tokyo after testing positive for human growth hormone. 

The report says that Reider’s lawyer claims his client had not been notified of any investigation and protests that the allegations have not been tested or proven.

Gemili, 28, was the first British man to sub-10 over 100m and sub-20 over 200m. According to the report, he has been coached by Reider since 2017. He won gold in the 4x100m relay at the 2017 World Championships, and silver in 2019. At Tokyo 2020, he got injured during the heats in the 200m (his only event) and did not advance.

The U.S. Center for Safepsort is an independent body that handles investigations and complaints into abuse and misconduct in Olympic sports. In July 2021, SafeSport issued a lifetime ban on U.S. coach Alberto Salazar for sexual and emotional misconduct.