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800-meter runner Michael Saruni in a 2019 race
Kenyan athlete Michael Saruni was banned for four years because he wanted to send a doppelganger to a doping test. The 800-meter runner tried to avoid the test by "tricking" at the national trials for the 2022 World Cup and literally "ran away," according to the Kenyan Anti-Doping Agency (Adak).
Saruni then "asked a doppelganger to pretend to be him and give a sample on his behalf," it said. As a witness reported, Saruni locked himself in the bathroom after the race. A man came out wearing the same clothes "as the person I saw rushing to the toilet," said the Adak official. "However, I noticed that the person did not look like an athlete who had just finished a race."
Saruni, however, claimed during a hearing that he was never asked for a sample. The 29-year-old's ban runs until the end of August 2027. Saruni reached the semi-finals of the 2021 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Despite all efforts, Kenya does not seem to be able to get its doping problem under control. In the past five years alone, almost 100 track and field athletes, especially long-distance runners, have been banned.
It was only in October that Titus Ekiru, one of the fastest marathon runners in history, had to return his trophies and prize money because banned substances were found in a doping sample. On Tuesday, Adak announced bans against 44 Kenyan athletes.
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