Elijah Manangoi provisionally suspended for whereabouts failures

Ernest wrote:

Whereabouts failures aren't doping failures - they're failures to meet a bureaucratic regimen which assumes all athletes reasonably have predictable presence and/or easy access to internet.

This is a comfortable assumption for privileged and middle-class Westerners making these rules, but less obviously so for impoverished citizens of unstable third-world countries, who seem to be often "caught".

Semiler wrote:

Agree 100%. There is really no valid excuse.

Ya I'm sure Kenyan sports stars are in extreme poverty.

Honestly, I don't think that sabotage is all that difficult, not to say that it is common.

In the case of whereabouts violations, they are unsatisfying because the requirements are difficult to meet. Forget three times in 365 days? Hardly unlikely. You get it right 362 days and get it wrong 3? That's a tiny margin for error. Within those 365 days, you have to be exactly where you said you'd be for an hour. What if you got called out to your parents' house for a medical emergency in the middle of the night and missed your early morning window? What if you gave one address and then moved and forgot to change it? What if your agent said get on the next flight, you are racing in Europe tomorrow? The system includes within it far more possibilities for error without intentional cheating than the drug tests themselves. So, there will always be that ambiguity as to whether the player skipped the tester to conceal doping or just forgot or made a mistake. That's why in all these cases, the tester needs to immediately follow up with the athlete until the test sample is collected, so that it's not just a matter of being at the mall at the end of the testing window.

If he shared his take-home, he has 34 brothers and sisters. Not sure what Manangoi earned, but it wouldn't transform Kenya's infrastructure and pacify it.https://www.osac.gov/Country/Kenya/Content/Detail/Report/50c57c03-c161-4f9c-8942-182082896065

Kvothe wrote:

Ernest wrote:

Whereabouts failures aren't doping failures - they're failures to meet a bureaucratic regimen which assumes all athletes reasonably have predictable presence and/or easy access to internet.

This is a comfortable assumption for privileged and middle-class Westerners making these rules, but less obviously so for impoverished citizens of unstable third-world countries, who seem to be often "caught".

Ya I'm sure Kenyan sports stars are in extreme poverty.

zxcvzxcv wrote:

Honestly, I don't think that sabotage is all that difficult, not to say that it is common.

In the case of whereabouts violations, they are unsatisfying because the requirements are difficult to meet. Forget three times in 365 days? Hardly unlikely. You get it right 362 days and get it wrong 3? That's a tiny margin for error.

It's not a 'tiny margin for error'

You don't get a whereabouts failure every time you're not where you said you were going to be at the given time, you only get one if you're not there and it's your day for testing.

If you only get it wrong 3 times (an innocent non-moron shouldn't get it wrong once) and end getting a whereabouts failure on these 3 occasions, you're the unluckiest mofo in the world. In reality, to miss 3 tests in a year, statistically you would have to be not where you said you were going to be many many more times.

Ernest wrote:

If he shared his take-home, he has 34 brothers and sisters.

Not sure what Manangoi earned, but it wouldn't transform Kenya's infrastructure and pacify it.

WTF does any of that have to do with it? Manangoi and the others have mobile phones, internet, public phones, internet cafes, etc, etc and the coverage is good, so no excuses.

If I were to not show up for three exams in a semester, I would fail the class. At most jobs, if an employee is a no-show three times in a year without a solid explanation of serious extenuating circumstances, they would get fired. Why should athletes be treated any differently? Updating their whereabouts is one of their few responsibilities (outside of training).

A clean athlete should be happy to provide their whereabouts and submit to testing, because it helps to ensure fair competition. The only reason for an athlete to NOT to get tested, is if they know they’re glowing.

Ernest wrote:

Whereabouts failures aren't doping failures - they're failures to meet a bureaucratic regimen which assumes all athletes reasonably have predictable presence and/or easy access to internet.

This is a comfortable assumption for privileged and middle-class Westerners making these rules, but less obviously so for impoverished citizens of unstable third-world countries, who seem to be often "caught".

Semiler wrote:

Agree 100%. There is really no valid excuse.

Actually, you'd expect more whereabouts failures for Kenyans given their shocking positive doping bust rates and confirmed stories of top athletes jumping out of windows to avoid testers.

Presumably a lot of tea money is still being paid there.

As regards Manangoi, we're talking about one of the most decorated and experienced athletes in the world, the good fortune to have a stable camp just outside Nairobi under the coaching of somebody as mature and respected as David Ouma, and who is clearly internet literate and who likes to show off his relative wealth on social media.

However, your post does win the whitesplain for Africa doping apologism award of the week.

Forgetting to update the testing entities with your updated address would be an extraordinary absentmindedness.

Fairly stupid questions by zxcvzxcv, you know, the sort I'd expect my 10 year old to ask.

Anyway, it's all here under MEDICAL & ANTIDOPING, including phone numbers, email addresses and in an emergency, etc you'd use a bit of initiative and ring/text/email them of your expected whereabouts.

Coevett wrote:

Actually, you'd expect more whereabouts failures for Kenyans given their shocking positive doping bust rates and confirmed stories of top athletes jumping out of windows to avoid testers.

I only heard a story of one athlete jumping out of a window. Maybe that was Patrick Siele?

According to the AIU site, the doping bust rate in Kenya significantly jumped in 2017, but then declined in 2018, 2019, and declined again in 2020 (which is probably not comparable given current competition circumstances).

At the risk of sounding like Trump, you would expect the number of busts to increase with the increased focus on testing in Kenya. To separate myself from Trump, we need more tests and less positives.

In 2019, there was one whereabouts bust.

In 2020, so far, there are 4 doping busts: 2 for Norandosterone, 1 for Terbutaline, and 1 for ABP.

There are 4 busts for whereabouts, and 1 bust for refusal.

There are so many doping busts in all categories. Very good job by the AIU in Kenya.

Agreed. Both Manangoi and Alberto Salazar are drug cheats. They failed doping regulations.

Where is Manangoi? Has he ran yet since his doping ban ended? He better get a move on if he wants to get back to the top - he turns 30 next year.

And where is baby George? His older brother earned the equivalent of $250 million in the 3 years before his suspension, and El K tells us that George just wanted to take a break from running to join the army!

He recently gave an interview in which he claims his suspension cost him Ksh 60 million (which is what he earned in the previous 3 years). That means he is easily in the top 0.1% of the Kenyan population for wealth. By comparison, in the USA you need to have $250 million to be in the top 0.1%. He could feed the entire traffic jam from Nairobi to Rongei, let alone his 34 brothers and sisters.

Fair Q. I read an article in which both guys were trying to get into the Kip Keino field, but neither made it in evidently. George has a 3:53 win in Nairobi, and 1:49.08 for 3rd also in Nairobi from early Feb., early March. Can't say that tells us much. Rongai is certainly off to a slow start with Tim not racing well in the African Games Trials, Keter looking overmatched, and the rest of the guys not racing in April/May. Bears watching with guys from the other groups/even countries (Abel Kipsang 3:31A, Eliud Kipsang 3:33, Taki 3:35/6A a couple of times, Etiang win in Bahamas, Kwemoi running well at longer distances) looking like they're going to be competitive.