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:
The Robertson’s both being doped to the gills is one of the most common knowledge secrets in NZ running. There are very few people who knew them before they left for Kenya who don’t think they have been juicing for the last decade…
So can you elaborate on this? At age 16-17, you are saying it was so obvious they were morally corrupt, that they are dopers? Please explain.
But if that's true, it gets real interesting as Shaheen took them in in Kenya.
As for 'naiming names', I"d love to see it to but no one names names. You name names here in Baltimore and it could get you killed, you name names in Iten, it's probably the same . Plius you've got to figure out how to make a living for the rest of you life.
And someone may give you a little cash not to name names.
Although you didn't address this to me, your assumption that doping is "morally corrupt" will not be shared by many ambitious athletes - even young athletes. They will see it as maximizing their chances with everything that is available. That is one of the reasons doping is so widespread today.
The worst part is people instantly trusted them because they're white. What I remember is Zane was always the angrier of the two. Clashing with villagers and even accusing Eliud Kipchoge (who he doesn't know) of age-cheating, claiming EK was 44 back in 2016 (tweet is still up on his account).
Can you provide a link? I tried to go back and find it on twitter. Avanced serach gave me nothing and then if I scroll through his timeline, twitter wont let me go back before September 2017. Is twitter saving money by deleting all tweets before then?
Suddenly can't see his tweets (had it bookmarked years ago). Am I blocked?
The worst part is people instantly trusted them because they're white. What I remember is Zane was always the angrier of the two. Clashing with villagers and even accusing Eliud Kipchoge (who he doesn't know) of age-cheating, claiming EK was 44 back in 2016 (tweet is still up on his account).
Can you provide a link? I tried to go back and find it on twitter. Avanced serach gave me nothing and then if I scroll through his timeline, twitter wont let me go back before September 2017. Is twitter saving money by deleting all tweets before then?
I was in Iten in April 2022, and reports from people there suggested that the Robertson twins were aggressive in their early years in Iten but chilled out with time. I'm told Jake speaks fluent Kiswahili but Zane much less. Will Zane continue to run his businesses in Kenya (guesthouse and gym) - that is the question ❓
Can you provide a link? I tried to go back and find it on twitter. Avanced serach gave me nothing and then if I scroll through his timeline, twitter wont let me go back before September 2017. Is twitter saving money by deleting all tweets before then?
I was in Iten in April 2022, and reports from people there suggested that the Robertson twins were aggressive in their early years in Iten but chilled out with time. I'm told Jake speaks fluent Kiswahili but Zane much less. Will Zane continue to run his businesses in Kenya (guesthouse and gym) - that is the question ❓
The ban includes coaching, so he's pretty much done in the sport.
What a joke. Two posers that, credit to them, tried to go all in. Zane, it seems, really went all in, and for what? No medals, no meaningful wins, PRs, memories. I don't think I've ever seen someone genuinely appreciate what he's done because he is so, so intolerable
Brash, obnoxious, diluted, and now, a certified cheat WITH PATHETIC PRs TO BOOT. I'm laughing all the way over here in the states at this dumb kiwi. He cheated and still wouldn't be good enough to win NCAAs.
Always thought these guys were strange. I recall when they first moved to Kenya, there was a short video about them and their move making the rounds on the internet (can’t seem to find it on YouTube now). During their interview, they were speaking with a very clear and noticeable Kenyan accent. Do they not understand they are from an English speaking country and it is their first language? Just bizarre.
I'm not defending Robertson but there was a Kenyan marathon runner busted last week and there will be another next week. Robertson is simply part of that queue.
I find it interesting, looking back, that thrower Valerie Adams was so publicly concerned someone was going to sabotage her re. doping.
I guess she was setting up her defense just in case … Def a dark eye in NZ athletics.
Plausible given how pervasive it is in New Zealand rugby (union & league) starting at high school level to club all the way to the All Blacks. She probably has access to the same strength coaches as these rugby players.
Can the morons who don't understand nuance stop saying we are justifying Zane's doping and claiming it's Kenya's fault? I have simply been saying it's an interesting story. Two idealistic teens move to Kenya at age 17 to learn from the world's best. 16 years later, at least one of them is doping.
To me, it's a sad story. One of the biggest disappointments of my adult life is to realize how corrupt shi* is.
When you're young, you don't care about money. Maybe with a wife (and kids?), he realized it's pragmatic to care. Ultimately, it's all on his shoulders.
Hey Rojo,
The thing is, when you say you love Saunders' response to her whereabouts failures, you're basically saying that you buy her story that it was just an innocent mistake and she's owning up to it.
But as Jenny Simpson said on your own website back in 2019, "If you miss three tests, it's either because you're cheating or because you're an idiot." And yeah, missing three whereabouts checks is basically a red flag for doping, because it's a way for athletes to dodge tests when they're on the juice.
Simpson explains everything she has to do to file her whereabouts information and doesn't believe it's that much of a burden: "If you miss three tests, it’s either because you’re cheating or because you’re an idiot."
It's like refusing a breathalyzer test – even if you don't blow positive, people assume you're guilty because you're trying to avoid getting caught.
So my issue with you cheering Saunders on for "taking responsibility" is that it lets athletes off the hook for casually missing tests, when really, we should assume they're doping given the reality of athletes dodging tests to avoid getting caught.
Victor Conte explains how he believes the IOC’s lenient whereabouts policy allows Olympic athletes to get away with using illegal performance enhancing drugs...
The Robertson’s both being doped to the gills is one of the most common knowledge secrets in NZ running. There are very few people who knew them before they left for Kenya who don’t think they have been juicing for the last decade…
So can you elaborate on this? At age 16-17, you are saying it was so obvious they were morally corrupt, that they are dopers? Please explain.
But if that's true, it gets real interesting as Shaheen took them in in Kenya.
As for 'naiming names', I"d love to see it to but no one names names. You name names here in Baltimore and it could get you killed, you name names in Iten, it's probably the same . Plius you've got to figure out how to make a living for the rest of you life.
And someone may give you a little cash not to name names.
At 16-17 they were little more than average moving to Kenya. They had an arrogance about them that is hard to explain.
im certainly not suggesting that they were doping as soon as they moved to Kenya or that they moved with the intention of doping but would say it would have been within a couple of years of being there.
Both of the twins have had abnormalities in their blood passports over the last decade and Athletics NZ has on more than one occasion sent chaperones prior to major events to make sure they don’t do anything silly. They are loose canons, everyone here knows it, including athletics NZ.
There are threads I’ve seen in private forums the last 24hrs which have a very small number of surprised individuals and a much larger percentage of I told you so, I wonder how long till it’s Jake’s turn.
Can you provide a link? I tried to go back and find it on twitter. Avanced serach gave me nothing and then if I scroll through his timeline, twitter wont let me go back before September 2017. Is twitter saving money by deleting all tweets before then?
Suddenly can't see his tweets (had it bookmarked years ago). Am I blocked?
I will however say Nick Willis was part of that original discussion in 2016, and he was still doubting Eliud's age in 2018 going by the info he got via that tweet from Zane, I believe. So maybe you can use his replies to find it if it hasn't been deleted. I got blocked.
It absolutely matters. The truth should always be our goal.
Can you provide a link? I tried to go back and find it on twitter. Avanced serach gave me nothing and then if I scroll through his timeline, twitter wont let me go back before September 2017. Is twitter saving money by deleting all tweets before then?
I was in Iten in April 2022, and reports from people there suggested that the Robertson twins were aggressive in their early years in Iten but chilled out with time. I'm told Jake speaks fluent Kiswahili but Zane much less. Will Zane continue to run his businesses in Kenya (guesthouse and gym) - that is the question ❓
Not to make excuses but.... Wouldn't you kind of have to be aggressive to survive? Can you imagine dropping the average spoiled American 17-year old off in Kenya with no money and telling them to figure it out. This talk of them being aggressive, brash, rude, etc makes sense to me.
I have a lot of sympathy for Zane. I recently bought a paperweight for my desk because I thought the shape was neat. I was a bit confused by the name fistomatic rim destroyer XXL but thought nothing of it. I got a bit sweaty unboxing it and took a shower but had the misfortune to slip when leaving the shower and landed sat on my new paperweight. I knew I needed help so ran out of my house and jumped the back fence. I forgot the local elementary school is behind my house and when school security found me in their bushes, butt naked with an object the size of a baby's arm poking my prostate they thought I was some kind of pervert. Why do bad things happen to good people?
Can the morons who don't understand nuance stop saying we are justifying Zane's doping and claiming it's Kenya's fault?
Maybe aim to understand basic grammar and spelling before aiming for (and missing) nuance? Letsrun must be the only running board where it's acceptable for an owner/founder to come on and call the people he relies on for traffic numbers to earn advertising $$ 'morons'. smh
I am not surprised at the bust. As I have said, doping is everywhere and amongst all nationalities. However if anyone chooses to base themselves in Kenya the odds go up. That said, he is the first Kiwi distance runner I am aware of who has been busted for doping, but I may be wrong.
Liza Hunter-Galvan. But as far as I know no NZ based Kiwi has been busted.
How many world-class Kiwis have been based in New Zealand since Peter Snell? Tanner is the first that I can recall. You almost have to be based somewhere else, even if it's Australia like Buscomb.
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