Do you know on what basis Eth-NADO wanted to excuse the test refusal?
I would also like to know this, but I just read the media release and it says "proceedings whilst ongoing are confidential and CAS is unable to provide additional information until the alleged ADRV is further examined" so I guess we'll have to wait to hear more.
Congrats to the AIU for getting this done - another example of how compared to other global sporting bodies, World Athletics really does do an incredible job going after their own athletes. Sure, Welteji doesn't really move the needle (figuratively speaking of course) either way, but she is the 8th fastest performer ever. Better than nobody.
Just quietly, even though Kenya has it's awful reputation and it's athletes are treated with enormous amounts of skepticism (which they should be), I wouldn't say its neighbor to the north is that much better - just a lot more sophisticated in keeping things on the DL.
I agree. Maybe I'm too rosy-eyed but I think we're a bit too harsh on our sport at times. Sure, there's along way to go until the testing regime is where it should be at but compared to, say, cycling, American football, baseball etc.?
Yall are so tired with this testosterone doping BS. It’s one of the EASIEST drugs to detect and would throw Hiltz out of the allowable range.
it's just low iq nonsense, and this is coming from someone who thinks she is unbelievably cringe and delusional with regards to her so called "gender identity".
there's literally no evidence she is on test.
I agree. I find Hiltz insufferable, but Hiltz knows better than anyone just how awful the PR would be if Hiltz were ever discovered to be using T, and knows just how much satisfaction that would give Hiltz's haters. Hiltz would *never* want to give the haters any reason to say "I told you so." As much as I roll my eyes at Hiltz's gender identity nonsense, I'm confident that Hiltz is not using PEDs.
The Court of Arbitration just issued its decision, and after an appeal by the Athletics Integrity Unit, Welteji -- who has a 3:51 pb and was the silver medalist at the 2023 Worlds and 4th at the 2024 Olympics -- has been suspended for the duration of the World Championships. The first round of the women's 1500 begins on Saturday.
Welteji was charged in May by Ethiopia's National Anti-Doping Office (ETH-NADO) for refusing to take a test but an ETH-NADO panel cleared her in August. But the AIU chose to appeal that decision and requested that CAS provisionally suspend Welteji for Worlds as they await the CAS hearing. CAS granted the request.
Full release below.
Huge news for Nikki Hiltz, who is now the favorite for bronze in my book.
Are there any help to Ethiopia Federation like 10 billions of $$ or Sebastian Coe is only resting in his comfortable chair, performing the ants hunt and killing progressively this already poor sport?
Quote from an American at Reddit: I am confused about the recent conversations about the popularity of track and field. Lyles, Michael Johnson and other people keep talking about how t&f popularity is at an all time low, how the sport needs to be saved...
Hiltz has a great chance at 3-4-5, and even 2nd place if Hull follows Kipyegon through 1200 and rigs up in the last 150. With no Tsegay or Chebet in the 1500, this has gone from the most competitive women's distance field to perhaps the weakest. I imagine Georgia Hunter Bell is having second thoughts about picking the 8.
Finally some good news for Michael Johnson. Maybe he can use this as excuse not to pay Welteji the $220,000 she won at Grand Slam Track.
The balked test happened in May. The only races Welteji ran in May were Grand Slams in Miami and Philadelphia. Of course, it could have been out of competition elsewhere. Miami was beginning of May and Philadelphia at the end.
Welteji was absolutely beaming at Prefontaine after running her personal best. She was hugging other runners and stayed on the track a very long time after the race. Very atypical for her. That was the Kipyegon world record to close the meet.
Since that race happened after the rest refusal, Welteji must have been given some indication that her federation would look away. But then she starts pulling out of races at the last minute, perhaps when there were indications that she might not be in the clear.
Congrats to the AIU for getting this done - another example of how compared to other global sporting bodies, World Athletics really does do an incredible job going after their own athletes. Sure, Welteji doesn't really move the needle (figuratively speaking of course) either way, but she is the 8th fastest performer ever. Better than nobody.
Just quietly, even though Kenya has it's awful reputation and it's athletes are treated with enormous amounts of skepticism (which they should be), I wouldn't say its neighbor to the north is that much better - just a lot more sophisticated in keeping things on the DL.
I agree. Maybe I'm too rosy-eyed but I think we're a bit too harsh on our sport at times. Sure, there's along way to go until the testing regime is where it should be at but compared to, say, cycling, American football, baseball etc.?
Could be far worse.
I mean just take a look at mens tennis recently. Sinner had not just one but TWO failed tests for clostebol and he got a token 3 months which was conveniently dated so he basically missed absolutely no tournaments of importance. Tatis Jnr (MLB) got 80 games for clostebol!
Swiatek got 30 days for trimetazidine. 30 days for a banned substance. Go take a training holiday, must be nice.
Both cases had such low, almost comical suspensions because of the low levels in the infraction - yeah no sh-t, this is what happens and the point of microdosing. Either way this is just one example of tennis being an absolute joke, even if these are two of the sports biggest stars (so it's not a complete 1-1 with Welteji)
I agree. Maybe I'm too rosy-eyed but I think we're a bit too harsh on our sport at times. Sure, there's along way to go until the testing regime is where it should be at but compared to, say, cycling, American football, baseball etc.?
Could be far worse.
I mean just take a look at mens tennis recently. Sinner had not just one but TWO failed tests for clostebol and he got a token 3 months which was conveniently dated so he basically missed absolutely no tournaments of importance. Tatis Jnr (MLB) got 80 games for clostebol!
Swiatek got 30 days for trimetazidine. 30 days for a banned substance. Go take a training holiday, must be nice.
Both cases had such low, almost comical suspensions because of the low levels in the infraction - yeah no sh-t, this is what happens and the point of microdosing. Either way this is just one example of tennis being an absolute joke, even if these are two of the sports biggest stars (so it's not a complete 1-1 with Welteji)
Each sport has its own doping culture. Skill sports like tennis? Nobody cares because everybody assumes the skill is far more important than the pure endurance/strength advantage provided by doping, even if that's not true. Nobody really cares in large team sports either like football. Be thankful doping is at least a source of shame in athletics.
Yes, at the same day of Knighton's ban thanks to AIU's and WADA's appeal.
How many more such cases do we need until we stop this self-policing nonsense? Of course USADA and ETH-NADO and ADAK love to see the American, Ethiopian and Kenyan stars, respectively, compete and win medals. ADAK is no better; just look at their many banned stars, who all got nabbed by the AIU.
Defund the NADOs, and give the money to independent testers, problem solved.
Some articles say the refused test was out of competition on May 21. That would have been 10 days prior to Grand Slam Philadelphia, where Welteji performed very well and won both ends of the 1500/800 double.
It's unclear where Welteji was at that point. With most runners of that caliber all you have to do is backtrack on their social media. Welteji has never done that.
Congrats to the AIU for getting this done - another example of how compared to other global sporting bodies, World Athletics really does do an incredible job going after their own athletes. Sure, Welteji doesn't really move the needle (figuratively speaking of course) either way, but she is the 8th fastest performer ever. Better than nobody.
Just quietly, even though Kenya has it's awful reputation and it's athletes are treated with enormous amounts of skepticism (which they should be), I wouldn't say its neighbor to the north is that much better - just a lot more sophisticated in keeping things on the DL.
Take the testing away from the Ethiopian Federation. And the Ugandan federation and the Eritrean federation and see drug test failures explode.
Do you ever ask yourself: why some many Kenyan busts and so few Ethiopian?
This reminds me of Spain and Contador. When people wonder why there are less Ethiopia doping busts than Kenya (despite the fact that the Ethiopians are clearly just as dirty), I would say authorities that are willing to green light doping is a big reason.
This reminds me of Spain and Contador. When people wonder why there are less Ethiopia doping busts than Kenya (despite the fact that the Ethiopians are clearly just as dirty), I would say authorities that are willing to green light doping is a big reason.
kenya,ethiopia,usa,theyre as bad as each other.
The US is bad, but pales in comparison to the African nations. They literally have zero qualms when it comes to cheating and among themselves laugh and roll their eyes at Westerners who call doping a “problem”.
The US is bad, but pales in comparison to the African nations. They literally have zero qualms when it comes to cheating and among themselves laugh and roll their eyes at Westerners who call doping a “problem”.
Oh, please! We don't get to hear about most American cases because they're legally protected and authorities don't want to get sued.
This is massive news, this isn't some random east African, this is IMO the #2 woman in the world for 1500 who is now banned. It makes you wonder how many are really doping at the highest level and how many federations are trying to protect their athletes.
Never mind that another woman crushed her with a 3:48. Seems feasible, right?
Do you ever ask yourself: why some many Kenyan busts and so few Ethiopian?
Absolutely, and I think the answer is quite simple.
A particular type (multiple) of European agent and coach got their hooks into Kenya coming out of the late 80's and into the 90's and Kenya freely opened their doors to it (promises of riches, fame - all the necessary evils). A big thing that is overlooked is that as a "Commonwealth" nation, English is actually an official language that enabled the communication to open up to begin with.
Ethiopia on the other hand was far less open. They weren't taken advantage of on the same degree and intensity Kenya was. Yes European agents got in there too (most famously Hermens) but the ones that did were far less brazen and far more sophisticated. Back to the language thing, English just isn't really a thing in Ethiopia so it was much more difficult to just roll into town, sell the dream and use and abuse athletes like their neighbor to the south.
A lot of Ethiopian athletes still have Ethiopian coaches and are far more controlled by the state than in Kenya. So quite simply it makes everything a lot easier to control. Everything including doping. Look at what happened in Russia for decades and decades - if it hadn't been for internal whistleblowers it would still be going on. That's because a closed system like that has very few leaks. But really you'd have to be pretty ignorant to believe that the same stuff that happens in Kenya doesn't happen in Ethiopia, it just a little more "refined".