Kenyan runner will get four-year ban for sending doppelgänger to take drug take a look at

The previous indoor 600m world report holder, Michael Saruni of Kenya, was handed a four-year ban on Feb. 1, by the Anti-Doping Affiliation of Kenya (ADAK) for sending a good friend to impersonate him throughout a drug take a look at on the 2022 Kenyan Trials for the 2022 World Championships.

In keeping with the ADAK report, Saruni was discovered responsible of “evading pattern assortment, or with out compelling justification, refusing, and working away.” In June 2022, the ADAK Doping Management Officer (DCO) notified Saruni that he was to endure doping management after competing within the 800m closing on the Kenyan trials, and was required to supply blood and urine samples. “It was additional alleged that the athlete adamantly evaded, refused, and failed to present a pattern or undergo pattern assortment and by collusion or trickery escaped or left the venue.”

The ban is for Evading, Refusing or Failing to Undergo Pattern Assortment. There appears to have been an tried “rest room swicheroo” on the 2022 World Championships trials.

— Emily Evans (@RunEmilyERun) February 1, 2024

The ADAK panel added that Saruni requested a lookalike to impersonate him and supply a pattern on his behalf. In keeping with the report, Saruni had locked himself in a rest room stall. Then the DCO allegedly watched somebody transferring to Saruni’s stall. When approached to establish, he ran for it and allegedly jumped over a fringe wall on the venue. Saruni claimed he had by no means been summoned by testers on the Kenyan trials. He’s banned till Aug. 30, 2027.

Saruni was the previous world report holder for 600m indoors, with a private better of 1:14.79. He’s additionally the Kenyan nationwide report holder for 800m indoors, working 1:43.98 on the 2019 Millrose Video games.

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Though we’re solely two months into 2024, Saruni’s suspension might be an early candidate for the craziest doping ban of the yr. I’m wondering if he and his doppelgänger are nonetheless pals, or if he bought a refund for his providers, for the reason that lookalike didn’t pull it off.

There are at the moment 75 Kenyan athletes on the AIU’s International Checklist of Ineligible Individuals. The Kenyan authorities is within the second yr of its $25 million, five-year marketing campaign to check extra athletes and get rid of doping in athletics. The AIU is working with the Kenyan authorities, Athletics Kenya and ADAK to fight the difficulty.