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.
The eight year ban includes coaching. I presume that means "fun runners" as well as elites, yet Zane seems to be talking like he can still coach "fun runners", and enter races as a fun runner, so sadly that's probably a bit more disappointment coming his way.
"What are the next steps? He’s living day by day and he recently passed a course in sports nutrition and personal training and he would like to branch out into those activities. He only wants to coach fun runners - he doesn’t want to coach elites! He hasn’t forgiven himself yet and it will take a long time but he thinks he’ll eventually come to terms with what he did and he hopes time will be the great healer. He hopes everyone will forgive him for his mistake but unfortunately his mistake was seen by the entire world."
Lesson learned. I hope he get's a second chance and some help. Best move for him would be to go back to NZ and reconnect with his family. Maybe NZ athletics could help as well. Life is tough and throws you a lot curves. All the best to him.
Here's an example of someone refusing to believe him until his account fits the scenario he'd built in his head for himself. Nothing will be true until he says something that implicates Kenya, the real villain in this guy's mind. Zane says "I got the EPO in Ethiopia" Speedy_Gonzales goes: "Shut up! You got in Kenya. I can't hear you until you say Kenya! lalalalalalala Kenya, Kenya, Kenya lalalalalala ..." 😂
Well, Addis Ababa is just a short flight from Nairobi. Two hours. That's a commute. Nothing implausible about getting a vial out of your freezer in Addis, packing it in your carry-on luggage, flying to Nairobi and putting it in your AirBnB fridge in Nairobi while it's still good. It's that simple. It also makes sense since he confesses he hardly had friends in Kenya.
Bethlem Desalegn, his ex-girlfriend (not "wife") is an Ethiopian-born runner who was part of Jama Aden's group and represented the Emirates in everything from 800m - 5000m. WA wiped out all her results from 2014 -2016 when her biological passport got flagged. My hunch is Zane has to have known or even partaken when they were together.
His ex-wife, who he claims pressured him to dope and bought the EPO for him, is an Ethiopian civilian (he used to post pics with her on his IG, I don't know if they're still up). My guess would be the nasty divorce and attempted extortion were probably linked to her and her connections threatening to expose his EPO usage? Or maybe something else?
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Lad, you know he scored in Kenya. It's no big deal hundreds of Kenyans are doping and scoring in Iten. Seriously, have you ever been to Iten? Do you know the name of the Indian family who were chased out of Eldoret and now run a shop in Iten? Do you know the Queen of Iten Sally Musa? Yeah, right. Fook off.
If he were to coach a national or world class runner that runner could find him/herself banned for dealing with ZR. So no, he can't really do that. But he could coach me, probably you, any of us who aren't going to be in an Olympic trial, an Olympics or Worlds,an elite field at a major road race, etc. And there are races which are not sanctioned by a national governing body that he could enter. A few of them even have money though you'd be hard pressed to earn a living running them. Shelby Houlihan proved that in Iowa not too long ago.
But how would he know? He says it's impossible for foreigners to purchase EPO over the counter without the pharmacy thinking it's some kind of trap or police sting. So assuming he sent his ex-wife to purchase it for him, he'd have no clue about the operation. Most drug dealers on street corners aren't even aware of the cartels they serve.
The former head coach of Finland's nordic ski team, Kari-Pekka Kyroe, was charged Thursday with smuggling illegal performance-enhancing drugs used by his athletes during the world championships in Lahti two years ago. Six of...
I don't think Zane will face charges about the "theoretical" EPO smuggling allegedly from Ethiopia to Kenya and even if that were true it begs the question of how he was able to transport that substance (EPO) over the border (Ethiopia-Kenya) because generally people will be searched very heavily when crossing land borders (in Africa) and much more so for a white foreigner coming from Ethiopia to Kenya. My own feeling is that he obtained the EPO in Kenya but unless Zane speaks we're going nowhere with all of this. The Sports Body have done their job, and unlikely this will go further. He's been severely punished anyway. 8 years, career ending. Anything more would be superfluous imho. Zane is no narco traffic drug dealer.This was a one off, and I believe him. Move on
I posted the link, as an example, about the Finnish cross-country coach who transported illicit substances across land borders but it did not really clarify the issue at stake to do with Zane and Kenya-Ethiopia "drug smuggling." I don't think we'll ever know the truth on that one unless Zane starts to sing. Unlikely, especially keeping in mind that his twin, Jake, is still heavily invested in Kenya and lives there on a permanent basis.
Keep in mind that compassion can take many forms. offering criticism of this guys behavior and the choices he made for (let’s be honest) money and fame does not mean that you cannot/ do not also have some level of compassion.
"For my case it was very unique and it's very different...a few years back....my ex-wife and I started talking about this thing a few years back....we started talking about it a lot...one day she showed up back to the house with it...it stayed in the house for a very long time"
Because it would mean that he refrigerated that EPO for years and brought it smuggled it in a fridge across an International border, then moved it up to his farm in the Kenyan bush, also refrigerated. It's BS.
Why say this? Because it's a convenient cold trail and takes the focus away from Kenya, Iten and those closer to him. Idiotic to state this on his behalf given that smuggling contraband is a serious crime in Kenya.
He said his wife brought the EPO home to Ethiopia (she was busted 5 years ago, they are long separated). He also said due to 'extortion', 'intimidation' over the divorce that he spent time on his farm 'in the mountains in Kenya'.
Now EPO needs to be refrigerated. He held onto EPO for 5 years , carried it over an International border, carried it up to the bush in Kenya all the while keeping it refrigerated?
No. He got it in Kenya, or off a Kenyan. He clearly believes he can't say this (He lives in Kenya, it's dangerous) so he can either say he imported it online (in which case the cops might inquire) or blame his estranged wife and cite a cold trail. He is not telling the truth.
Here's an example of someone refusing to believe him until his account fits the scenario he'd built in his head for himself. Nothing will be true until he says something that implicates Kenya, the real villain in this guy's mind. Zane says "I got the EPO in Ethiopia" Speedy_Gonzales goes: "Shut up! You got in Kenya. I can't hear you until you say Kenya! lalalalalalala Kenya, Kenya, Kenya lalalalalala ..." 😂
Well, Addis Ababa is just a short flight from Nairobi. Two hours. That's a commute. Nothing implausible about getting a vial out of your freezer in Addis, packing it in your carry-on luggage, flying to Nairobi and putting it in your AirBnB fridge in Nairobi while it's still good. It's that simple. It also makes sense since he confesses he hardly had friends in Kenya.
Bethlem Desalegn, his ex-girlfriend (not "wife") is an Ethiopian-born runner who was part of Jama Aden's group and represented the Emirates in everything from 800m - 5000m. WA wiped out all her results from 2014 -2016 when her biological passport got flagged. My hunch is Zane has to have known or even partaken when they were together.
His ex-wife, who he claims pressured him to dope and bought the EPO for him, is an Ethiopian civilian (he used to post pics with her on his IG, I don't know if they're still up). My guess would be the nasty divorce and attempted extortion were probably linked to her and her connections threatening to expose his EPO usage? Or maybe something else?
The fact that Kenya nearly encountered a global ban for peristent doping violations this year is not news. The only person suggesting he got the EPO in Ethiopia is Robertson himself so we can discount that theory and assume it was in Kenya where he was living at the time (unless you have another source for his 'wife made me do it BS story?' (he calls her his ex wife in the podcast.)?
Didn't think so.
This post was edited 56 seconds after it was posted.
If he said he got it in Iten then he would presumably have to tell the local police exactly where and who. Saying he got it in Ethiopia years before removes this danger from him.