Ruti Aga said that a positive drug test after winning a half marathon in China was due to a prescription for treatment of a knee injury. Upon investigation, anti-doping regulators determined the clinic listed wasn’t real, and the person who signed it was a family member who wasn’t a registered doctor. The 32-year-old Ethiopian marathoner has now been banned for six years, the Athletics Integrity Unit announced Thursday, after testing positive for methylprednisolone following her win at the Meishan Renshou Half Marathon on March 15.
The drug is prohibited in competition under World Anti-Doping Agency rules. Aga, the winner of the 2019 Tokyo Marathon and one of the world’s elite women’s distance runners, said in an April interview with investigators that she’d been given the medication in Ethiopia to treat knee pain, and turned over a prescription in May. However, AIU officials found the person who signed the prescription was a relative and not recognized as a physician by the country’s medical authority.
The family member told investigators they had worked at the clinic and had written the prescription on old clinic stationery. The AIU, with support from the Ethiopian Anti-Doping Authority, determined that the document was forged, resulting in a second anti-doping rule violation for tampering. Aga had been provisionally suspended since September, when the allegations first became public.
Her final sanction includes two years for the prohibited-substance violation and another four for tampering. The ban is especially significant given Aga’s standing in the sport. She was ranked 11th in the world when she tested positive, and she had won the previous two editions of the Xiamen Marathon.
Her resume also includes the 2019 Tokyo title, six top-three finishes at World Marathon Majors, and a 2:18:09 personal best. Protecting clean competition takes resources, but this case sends a clear message: attempts to cheat will be exposed.” Sean Abrams was the Senior Editor, Growth and Engagement at Men’s Health. He’s a former hip hop dancer who likes long walks on the beach and large glasses of tequila.
You can find his previous work at Maxim, Elite Daily, and AskMen.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
