ZANE ROBERTSON POPPED FOR EPO!!!!!!!!!!!!! Claimed he went for Covid-19 vaccine, was given EPO instead.

Seems like Kenya's off the hook in this particular case: Blames ex-wife (she allegedly bought the EPO), management ("we thought you'd run better"), getting dropped by sponsors, "nasty" divorce, high cost of living in New Zealand ...

Says there were threats on his life from his divorce situation. Does anyone know what that's about?

Not trying to be smart. Why are drugs not legal?? I feel like they are not legal because of the non fair competition because of some athletes using and some not. Athletes train with different sponsors and coach's. That makes as big of difference in times? Some athletes have lighter shoes and shoes that actually spring back. Does that make a difference in times? That is legal. It really is a shame that no one ever thinks about the athletes health. Taking synthetic substances and having procedures done to change your oxygen in your blood are not natural. Maybe I am totally missing it? I Don't ever see Nike who runs track and field mention anything about the athletes health. Instead every person in America wants nike shoes and leggings. When in fact they don't even run or Train. Society is in a special weird spot now Days. They support cheaters by buying Nike products and don't even care. Let alone care about the athletes health.

What?

Do you seriously believe all that BS about getting the gear in Ethiopia from his wife and then bringing it to Kenya and suddenly realising it was in his bag? Listen to the part when he's talking about Manchester; he says something about a man and then stops suddenly; he's an inveterate liar. He got the gear in Kenya. Watch and see. This will unravel and I think you will be even happier as he'll probably speak out about the doping in Kenya and bring down many Europeans, including some longstanding, big names.

4 years for being positive for EPO, 4 years for "tampering" or lying about it

EPO has to be refrigerated though so traveling with it (across Africa) seems like a weird scenario. Maybe they had a cooler?

Similar to the Martin Fagan incident where he was living with Abdi and was storing the EPO in the refrigerator. No one saw the vials in the refrig?

IMO if you get caught your entire athletic career should be viewed as tainted. I think a lot of people believing the "they only doped one time" stories from people like Robertson or Kiprop are way too charitable.

Yes, I know. That's why I used the handle: I am a fridge. He got the gear in Kenya. Wait and see...

If he said eliud kipchoge slipped him the epo I would 100% believe him.

I quit following the sport for the most part because of the prevalence of doping. I check in with LRC occasionally for the latest drug busts. Usually plenty of new cases.

New Zealand has a great tradition in distance running. Sad to see that reputation soiled by this clown.

Please describe the proposed anabolic effect of erythropoietin.

He says he and his wife were talking about it for a while before she showed up with it one day. Do I believe she bought it without his knowledge or consent? No. Did they bring it into Kenya on accident? Absolutely not. Nairobi is just a short two-hour flight from Ethiopia so the smuggling scenario works.

As for outing cheats, he can't unless he saw people injecting EPO in front of him. Saying their performances and workouts were surreal won't cut it. That's the old 'anyone-better-than-me-must-be-doping' argument.

Yes, I had more sympathy for him reading about the podcast than after actually seeing the video. Maybe he got threats, related to his wife's connections and acrimonious divorce, to not talk about Kenya? I mean, I believe there are drugs in Ethiopia too. But who travels with it in a temperate climate, especially if they weren't even really intending to use it.

And he explains to the interviewer how drugs are so prevalent in running because synthetic EPO is so hard to detect, that the "doctors" will always be ahead of the testing. But then also says people should believe most of his career was clean because he's been drug tested at his past events and they can still test those samples. He said he's been tested over 50 times, which isn't really that much over a 10-yr career. Could be mainly competition testing. A U.S. athlete having a lot of success will be tested like 14 times a year.

Why? His wife's Ethiopian. He says they bought it in Ethiopia moving to Kenya. Why would his wife's connections care what he says about Kenya?

He's not talking about Kenya because he has nothing to say that he hasn't said before. Ethiopia is what he should be talking about.

Sorry, I got confused. I probably don't need to make it more complicated than what he's saying. Even if he's leaving some stuff out.

I listened to the whole podcast last night and it was interesting to hear Zane say that conceivably he could come back at age 40 and run a 2:04:00 -2:05:00 Marathon or a sub 60 minute half marathon. This response was prompted by the Kiwi interviewer.

If he pumps himself full of EPO for the next 7 years and 11 months it is conceivable

He's a liar. If his brotheris clean, his only option is to squeal - to take the heat off Jake. If he comes clean and tells everything he knows, the authorities will investigate and he'll go a good way to making amends for his peccadilloes (he hasn't murdered anyone, yet; he's just doped and, along with many others in Kenya, cheated lots of people out of prize money, helped in raising the standards for Olympic qualification, destroyed the dreams of many young people who believed the fantasy, dropped his brother and his whole community in the sh1t, and is possibly about to bring down many ex-pats thriving off the Kenyan experience). Also, and more importantly for Zane, he'll be immortalised - his dream; unfortunately, not for being a clean, world class runner but for being the dirty kid who cleaned-up Kenya and triggered the beginning of a new era in athletics - haha , yeah, right.

Getting through Nairobi with a fridge full of EPO on your back is pretty difficult to pull off - even for a 'Big G' like Zane; the only thing Zane is pulling-off is the naive people who believe him. The security at Nairobi is excellent. Because of the terrorist issues, they're all over everything. He ain't strutting through the airport loaded with EPO, especially when it's readily available in Iten, Eldoret, and beyond. Why take that risk? Seriously, your dewy-eyed nescience is incredulous.

I'm surprised you of all people believe his BS about his 'ex'-wife; mind you, that suits your narrative. It's easy for him to dump on her - without any questions. If you believe what he said about his wife, then you have to believe that he didn't see any doping in Ethiopia but he knows the full-scale of the doping in Kenya (most people in Iten know who's doping, especially the runners who live there, including Europeans and Americans who are doping and others involved in facilitation). The Robertsons have spent the better part of sixteen years in Kenya and they know everything.

Regardless of the Europeans and Americans in Kenya, doping and facilitating the supply of PEDs, it still remains that Kenyan runners are the main problem. They're doing what Zane did but only in their hundreds and, over time, thousands - through the full spectrum too: those running in mediocre races in China with dodgy agents to those robbing prize money at the big city events and medals at the champs, and therefore, by extension, cleaning-up the sponsorship deals. And. lets not forget the vociferous Kenyans in the US on scholarships and those who have now settled...

Yes, there is crude doping: Kenyan husbands forcing their wives to dope. But there is systemic doping in camps (not just the big camps but smaller groups). We now have four people who paced Kipchoge to his 'sub 2', busted for doping (surprised those working on the project weren't able to pick-up anything from testing, etc: surely, they did a range of tests on the guinea pigs to make sure they were clean and healthy, etc). Remember, these elite runners who doped, didn't run the full marathon. Kipchoge's some boy. Who's next?

Yes, there was the incident with the kids and many in Iten don't like Zane. But don't forget (mind you, I doubt you know about this because you're not involved on the ground in Iten) Thomas Potzinger (Canova's Austrian, assistant coach and coach in the Asics camp - Zane's ex-sponsor) got weighed-in (beaten-up) by 8 lads, for hitting a kid. Iten's a paradise on earth.

Anyone who believes anything from Zane right now, is nuts. He's like a wounded honey badger. He's had a long time to stew on this. So long as he gets out of Kenya before the cartels (I know, a tad over-egged) get to him, he'll talk. It's important that he gets out sooner rather than later; if he doesn't get out, he's likely to go missing (no over-egging: a lot of people have vested interests in Iten and it's easy to make someone disappear). If/when he talks, it could go a long way to sorting the problem in Kenya (both Kenyans and outsiders).

He needs the limelight. If the right journo (difficult in the running world) plays to his fragile ego, they'll have some scoop. Iten and the nearby villages, the ones with camps, are dens of iniquity. But Zane needs to get out of Kenya - sharpish.

Let's wait and see - this is a long way from over...

^ Seems as if you're the one with the agenda not wanting to believe he and his ex-wife got it in Ethiopia, like he says. I wonder why?

Well, his visa is about to run out so hopefully he'll be leaving Kenya for the last time. Nothing to stop him from speaking his piece going forward. I wouldn't hold my breath for major revelations if I were you though, because given the fact he wasn't well-liked and had few friends, how much could he possibly know? Anything he says from now on should be taken with a pinch of salt because he'll be going for shock value and money, which will make him even less credible.

ETA: Iten was indeed a paradise on earth before the influx of foreigners. Sorry.