NAIROBI, Kenya, March 22 – New Zealand middle and long-distance runner Zane Robertson, who was slapped with an eight-year ban for doping, tried to blame his woes on a Covid-19 medication he received in Kenya.
The 2014 Commonwealth Games 5000m bronze medalist was suspended on Wednesday by the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand after testing positive for the banned substance Erythroprotein (EPO), which is used by unscrupulous athletes to improve oxygen intake by increasing red blood cells.
“Mr Robertson filed evidence to support his assertion. Specifically, Mr Robertson
claimed that he had attended a Kenyan medical facility seeking a Covid 19 vaccination but was instead treated for Covid 19, which included the administration of EPO,” the tribunal reported.
The athlete added that he told his doctor that he was an athlete and therefore bound to anti-doping rules but that a second doctor who eventually gave him this injection did not know this fact.
“He also claimed that he had told the attending doctor that he was an athlete and could not be treated with a substance that was on the prohibited list. His evidence was that he had not realised it was a second doctor who administered the medication, so he did not repeat his request not to be treated with a prohibited substance,” the tribunal revealed.
However, a statement from a legal officer at the Anti-Doping Agency of Kenya (ADAK) proved that Robertson’s assertions were false and that he never visited the medical facility to receive treatment.
“ADAK’s statement included an attached letter from the Vice President of the medical facility Mr Robertson claimed to have attended which stated that Mr Robertson was not administered EPO at the facility, that he had not attended the facility on the alleged date, that of the two doctors he claimed had treated him, one was a laboratory technician and the other was not employed at the facility, that the medical notes were not generated at the facility and the patient number on the notes was not Mr Robertson’s,” the report further states.
After the tribunal established that the athlete had falsified documents in an attempt to tamper with evidence, it slapped Robertson with a further four years in addition to the initial sentence handed out to him for use of the banned substance.
“In choosing not to contest the tampering breach, Mr Robertson has left the Tribunal with no other option than to conclude he has deliberately attempted to subvert the doping control process,” the tribunal concluded.
The 33-year-old moved to Kenya at the age of 17, establishing his training base at the famous Iten in Elgeyo Marakwet County.
His last race was on November 11 last year when he won the men’s 10km race at the El Gouna Half Marathon in Egypt.
