The article was initially entiteld, "Zane Robertston!!!!" but we changed it to make it more descriptive. Here is our article on his bust and fake excuses (he said he went to a hospital for a COvid-19 vaccine but they gave him EPO instead) which points out that in 2016 he expressed frutation at the amount of doping in the sport:
Now you’re moving the goal posts. Nobody was comparing Kenya with NZ. Were they? That is like saying my neighbor beats his wife. I just verbally abuse mine.
Precisely. New Zealand has few competitive distance runners. Even fewer based in New Zealand. The era you’re talking about as well had few athletes get busted in general. How many Kenyans got popped from 1968-1984 let’s say? Nobody is arguing that Kenya doesn’t have a problem with doping but blaming the country for this athlete doping and blatantly lying about it is ridiculous.
To draw any comparability between Kenya and New Zealand for doping on the basis of Robertson's bust is ludicrous - or merely further evidence that runners/fans aren't very bright. Furthermore, Robertson lived in Kenya and was busted in Kenya - the country that currently leads the world for doping positives in athletics. Living in Kenya, Robertson has effectively added to them. He hardly represents the state of New Zealand sport.
I escapes you but this thread is not about doping in New Zealand. Although Robertson is a New Zealander he has lived and trained since his teens in Kenya. His bust is just another in the sorry tale of Kenyan sport.
And another sorry tale of New Zealand sport. Why do you continue to overlook confessed New Zealand marathoner doper Lisa Hunter-Galvan for the 5th or 6th time in this thread? Amazing.
I said Robertson was the first Kiwi distance runner busted for doping that I was aware of. So you found one other that I had never heard of, that, like Robertson, went to another country to dope. You have identified two New Zealand distance runners who have doped in 70 or so years. (New Zealand was also a top nation for running in the 60's and 70's). This year at least two Kenyans are popped each week. I would include Robertson amongst their tally.
This is very sad because he did not need to do this at the end of his career and one should assume that he was clean for most of his career as he had been tested multiple times presumably throughout his career when running internationally. It is also sad because it might tarnish to some degree his brother and twin Jake Robertson. Very sad times and I really feel devastated for him. The 8 year ban also includes a ban for coaching.
Why in earth would some one make such a stupid assumption? Is there anyone out there who is dumb enough to think a clean test means someone isn't doing drugs? Did they sleep through the lance Armstrong years?
Odds are the dude has been doping for a decade and took advantage of the poor testing in Kenya. Makes that big breakthrough in 2012/3 look a lot different.
You might be correct on there but I don't think we'll ever know the full story unless Zane comes clean himself and admits everything including the timelines.
Zane Robertson did a great disservice to himself and the sport by doping and I feel bad for his twin brother, Jake, who continues to run very well at this stage in his career, because Jake may suffer in the aftermath of this doping case. Now that Zane's career is over (his ban will take him until the age of 41, unlikely he will attempt to come back then), I think he would do well to admit everything and come clean and state how he did it it and what the effects were on his running so that we can learn in the future about this case.
On another note in recent years I was always curious to notice the difference in the physical shape between Zane and Jake with the former being much more muscular and perhaps this case illustrates the potential for increased muscle power with ingestion of some products including EPO which may give athletes advantages beyond pure endurance training and recovery. I even recall from my time in ITEN as far back as 2009 that Zane was quite a big gym rat in Lorna Kiplagat's camp gym. Back in those days it was quite a bare-bones affair but he was doing the work.
By this logic, Blessing Okagbare, Nijel Amos, Divine Ododuru etc are American cheaters. Humble hard working Africans who were corrupted by a society of cheaters. 🤡
He represents your country, whether you like it or not.
What Zane represents is that if you are an elite runner in Kenya - whatever your nationality - you are probably a doper. He shows that 'if you can't beat 'em you join 'em' - the underlying rationale of the doper.
By this logic, Blessing Okagbare, Nijel Amos, Divine Ododuru etc are American cheaters. Humble hard working Africans who were corrupted by a society of cheaters. 🤡
Except the logic fails when you see where they come from and where they doped. Not in the US.
I think both Zane and Jake have guest houses in ITEN so I'm not sure what the future holds for Zane. I think Zane should come clean and admit his infraction and move on from there so that he can get on with his life without speculation from others which would go on ad infinitum.
Why do athletes get vilified to such an extent compared with professional cyclists? I'm not excusing what he (Zane) did but I can't get my head around the fact that cyclists who dope can get on with their lives (Virenque, Rasmussen, Contador, et Al) in a much more comfortable way compared with runners who have doped who receive so much negativity to such a great extent. No need to even mention American professional sports like basketball, baseball and American football where players who have doped hardly even get mentioned.
Your argument was literally it doesn't matter where the Robertsons are from, they are Kenyan by association because of where they train. Soo.. Oduduru and Okagbare are were part of Tumbleweed Track Club, trained in the US through college and professionally. . Nijel Amos lived and trained in US under OTC. 🤡🤡
The AIU believes Divine Oduduru is 'Athlete-2' as mentioned in the FBI's charging documents of Eric Lira. An individual assisting the investigation found what appeared to be HGH, insulin growth factor, and EPO in their reside...
Dude - really? Morals? The whole concept of morality relies on how societal accountability of "right" and "wrong" behavior - you think living in Kenya in a culture of doping in distance running creates any accountability between right and wrong?
And do you honestly think this guy even cares? He had his moments. Stood on podiums, broke records and cashed checks. He has the same mindset as all dopers - that everyone else is so it's not immoral in any way - that's the mental gymnastic. Therefore, as I said, absolutely nothing to lose.
Your argument was literally it doesn't matter where the Robertsons are from, they are Kenyan by association because of where they train. Soo.. Oduduru and Okagbare are were part of Tumbleweed Track Club, trained in the US through college and professionally. . Nijel Amos lived and trained in US under OTC. 🤡🤡
That isn't my argument. My argument is that the reason any athlete of any nationality would choose to live and train in Kenya is easier access to doping. Kenya has shown it is endemic to their sport. African athletes wouldn't expect to find it easier to dope in the US than in their home countries.
It's very likely that he was clean before 2016 (when he was voicing his frustration at doping), but then that frustration turned into something along the lines of "well if these guys - who I know are doping - keep beating me, and keep getting away with it, well then I'll just have to level up the playing field."
At first you might sympathise with this position, but then you realise that's probably how all dopers justify their decision to dope.
If you are too weak to refuse the temptation to dope, then you deserve to be banned. And in cases such as Zane's, it should be for life.
Dopers always dope to beat other runners. It is a virtual necessity now at the top.
Running has been a feature in New Zealand sport since Lovelock. Can you name a New Zealand distance runner who was popped for doping? Robertson went to Kenya because doping is part of their sports culture. We have seen that about them. His bust confirms it.
No he went there because many of the worlds best train in Kenya. Few do in New Zealand. People dope in New Zealand:
Your argument was literally it doesn't matter where the Robertsons are from, they are Kenyan by association because of where they train. Soo.. Oduduru and Okagbare are were part of Tumbleweed Track Club, trained in the US through college and professionally. . Nijel Amos lived and trained in US under OTC. 🤡🤡
He represents your country, whether you like it or not.
What Zane represents is that if you are an elite runner in Kenya - whatever your nationality - you are probably a doper. He shows that 'if you can't beat 'em you join 'em' - the underlying rationale of the doper.
What Zane represents is the willingness of a New Zealander to dope, dumbo.
You also represent your country, and you make it look bad.
We know you are guilty of confirmation bias but this one is egregious.
We know this phenomenon also from the UK: a lot of doping in the country.
But not in distance running.
What? You mean cycling? Which amounts to asthma TUEs and dubious packages probably containing testosterone? As opposed to GDR style Lance Armstrong scientific blood doping that was taking place 10 years earlier, or the European cyclists dropping dead like flies 10 years before that?
