Friendly, reminder, you are talking about a real person who very well may read this. I've written up that summarizes the key points that he said on the podcast.
What the New Zealand article fails to mention is that Zane appears to be suicidal. He talked about wanting to end his life 3 or 4 times on the podcast.
If anyone is suicidal, please dial or text 988 in the US. We have the international suicide numbers in the article.
Wow. TBH, a bit refreshing to get a pretty straight forward confession. It sounds like he was just desperate for some kind of “good thing” and needed race winnings. I get it, but man, what a sucky situation all around.
I wonder if many of the recent positive results are a result of economic desperation due to the lack of opportunities from the pandemic.
I KNEW IT!!! I KNEW IT WAS FAUCI'S FAULT THAT HE CHEATED!!!
Very doubtful he had epo in his fridge that long. The give away is he said he forgot about it, but went to great lengths to take it to Ethiopia with him. No one is getting caught the first time.
Real story is probably; using for some time. Wife was buying for him at his request. Took latest supply with him to Ethiopia.
This is a guy that went to great lengths to create fake papers and a cover story. He is still not coming clean. At best this new story is a half truth.
The least damaging thing to say is I only took it once. Then you can pretend any results before that were clean. It is just an attempt to preserve his legacy.
"I've been taking EPO out of competition for many years. I've recently been under more pressure to run fast times, leading me to take it before I raced to get the biggest advantage possible, and got caught"
I don't know, the circumstances and comments show (perhaps on purpose) he doesn't really know how epo works. If he had actually been taking it for a while you would think he would know (at a minimum from experience even if he didn't take the time to look it up on the internet) that it takes weeks to have an effect and, test wise, after a few days, and certainly after a week, it is not detectable.
He got caught by an in race test. Are there any other dopers who were snagged for epo by an in race test?
I don't know, the circumstances and comments show (perhaps on purpose) he doesn't really know how epo works. If he had actually been taking it for a while you would think he would know (at a minimum from experience even if he didn't take the time to look it up on the internet) that it takes weeks to have an effect and, test wise, after a few days, and certainly after a week, it is not detectable.
He got caught by an in race test. Are there any other dopers who were snagged for epo by an in race test?
Yes. It happens when you are micro dosing and it is injected subcutaneously instead of in the vein. Which stays in the system much longer and the user might not know they messed up when they administered it.
You only stop micro dosing before a key event. (Worlds, Olympics, Marathon)
Very doubtful he had epo in his fridge that long. The give away is he said he forgot about it, but went to great lengths to take it to Ethiopia with him. No one is getting caught the first time.
Real story is probably; using for some time. Wife was buying for him at his request. Took latest supply with him to Ethiopia.
This is a guy that went to great lengths to create fake papers and a cover story. He is still not coming clean. At best this new story is a half truth.
The least damaging thing to say is I only took it once. Then you can pretend any results before that were clean. It is just an attempt to preserve his legacy.
Agreed. After going to such great lengths, it's unlikely he's suddenly telling the full truth, and someone like this would of course try to preserve their legacy as much as possible.
On Tuesday March 22, it was announced that NZ distance runner, Zane Robertson had received a seven-year ban for failing a drug test. Four years was for taking the banned substance EPO, an additional three years was for trying...
Many people here need to have some compassion. When you are in a very dark place, and you strongly associate your life with running, doping can seem like a way to save your life. Sounds like he was dealing with financial troubles as well as a divorce. Anyone who has been in a dark place before knows that they think of everything else they can try as a last resort before the *final option*. Obviously this was a stupid mistake on his part, he made his training partners, athletes he coached, brother, and family all look bad. But we are only human. I'm not justifying doping here, but most top athletes have at least thought of going over to the dark side before. Only he knows if he truly did it once or for most of his career, all we can do is look at the facts rather than speculate.
Everything he said was for money. He wanted money and didn't want to get a 'real' job. He kept complaining about not winning enough prize money and losing the contract. You can run without all of that, he just wanted to get enough money from running to not get a real job. But in his mind maybe he doesn't think he can make enough money from a normal job to live his life. And this might be why a lot of Africans decide to dope. Their best shot at money is from running fast, where people from wealthier countries are more likely to get a good paying job away from running. Maybe by Zane leaving New Zealand and going all in on running and not going to college, he financially doesn't have many options outside of winning prize money and having a running contract. So he decided to cheat to hopefully make more money.
I don't know, the circumstances and comments show (perhaps on purpose) he doesn't really know how epo works. If he had actually been taking it for a while you would think he would know (at a minimum from experience even if he didn't take the time to look it up on the internet) that it takes weeks to have an effect and, test wise, after a few days, and certainly after a week, it is not detectable.
He got caught by an in race test. Are there any other dopers who were snagged for epo by an in race test?
Yes. It happens when you are micro dosing and it is injected subcutaneously instead of in the vein. Which stays in the system much longer and the user might not know they messed up when they administered it.
You only stop micro dosing before a key event. (Worlds, Olympics, Marathon)
Okay, misinjection makes sense, but does this also maybe suggest unfamiliarity?
I know nothing other than what the internet says on a quick search, but apparently epo is broken down in the body pretty quickly. Days, which is why it has the short half life to detect. So you need to be constantly injecting it for weeks to get get an effect:
"For anemia from chemotherapy: Adults—Dose is based on body weight and must be determined by your doctor. The starting dose is 150 units per kilogram (kg) injected under the skin three times a week or 40,000 units injected under the skin once a week. Your doctor may adjust the dose as needed."
150 units if you do it 3 times a week or 40,000(!) units if used once a week. So even subcutaneously you need a huge dose if it is going to make it in your body for a week.
Using epo apparently means you need to be pretty good with a needle and willing to constantly be doing it. Shows why you can be caught in out of season tests despite the low 'glow' time.
The story seems absurd. For someone who used it once, he sure seems to have a feel for how well it worked on him. Also he used it once and it was in the glowing window (2-6 days?) of the race which he could’ve easily researched in before? What was he possibly thinking…
The man needs to stop talking. Was given EPO, knew it was EPO, kept it in his fridge, moved country, took the EPO with him, put it into a new fridge to protect it, used said EPO. That’s not a moment of weakness by an anti-doping campainer, that is someone who had multiple oppotunities to do the right thing and chose not to.
Great point! If you are truly committed to being a clean athlete why do you keep the stuff around and bring it with you when you move?