New Zealand runner Zane Robertson has been banned for eight years following a positive test for erythropoietin (EPO) and “providing false documentation”.
The 33-year-old, who won 5,000m bronze at the 2014 Commonwealth Games, was caught after being tested at the 2022 Great Manchester Run.
He claimed he was given EPO in Kenya, where he trains, when trying to get a Covid-19 vaccination.
However, the medical facility in Kenya did not support Robertson’s claim.
Drug Free Sport New Zealand (DFSNZ) presented a statement from the anti-doping agency of Kenya (Adak) as part of its evidence at a Sports Tribunal of New Zealand hearing.
Adak’s statement said that “Mr Robertson was not administered EPO at the facility” and “that he had not attended the facility on the alleged date”.
It added “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”.
Robertson claimed he had been trying to get a Covid-19 vaccination but was instead treated for Covid 19, which included the administration of EPO.
He also claimed he told the doctor that he was an athlete and could not be treated with a substance that was on the prohibited list and he did not realise that a second doctor administered the medication and he therefore did not repeat his request not to be treated with a prohibitive substance.
EPO boosts red blood cells to enhance performance in endurance events and is on the World Anti-Doping Agency’s prohibited list.
The ban for Robertson, who competed at the 2016 Rio and Covid-delayed 2020 Tokyo Olympics, will be backdated to the date of his provisional suspension on 20 September 2022.
“Mr Robertson’s actions are not just deeply disappointing, but undermine the high levels of sporting integrity we see and expect from athletes who represent our country,” said DFSNZ chief executive Nick Paterson.