400m champion Muthuka failed dope tests before Games
Published on 23/08/2008
By Standard Team
The riddle surrounding Elizabeth Muthuka’s withdrawal from the Beijing Olympics has been unravelled.
FeverPitch can now confirm the national women’s 400m champion did indeed fail two out of competition dope tests.
In an effort to save face, Athletics Kenya (AK) decided to silently pull her out of the Olympics.
“Yes, she indeed failed two tests but we decided to shield the matter away from the public since she had not appeared before the AK Committee that deals with such cases,” a high ranking official in the federation told FeverPitch in Beijing.
FACING BLEAK FUTURE: 400m national champion Elizabeth Muthuka after the National Trials at Nyayo National Stadium. Photo: File/Standard
“It was our view that such news and the media fanfare surrounding it would have unsettled the team and adversely affected performance,” the official added.
Efforts by FeverPitch to locate the athlete for the better part of three days proved futile. Her coach
Her coach, Stephen Mwaniki, when contacted said he did not know of her whereabouts and referred us to the Kenya Prisons Service headquarters where Muthuka works.
There, we were told that she was given a break to prepare for September’s Tusker Permit Meeting at Nairobi West Prisons grounds where on arrival; we were informed she was last seen training there on Monday.
Other reports, however, indicated that the athlete had been relocated to Kitui since news broke out in local media that she could have failed a drug test.
All those close to her have refused to divulge further details.
Muthuka was due to depart on August 11 with the main group of athletes but concerns were raised when her name was missing from the start list.
On Tuesday, AK secretary general, David Okeyo, who is also the head of Kenyan delegation in Beijing and team manager, Joseph Kinyua, sought to put the issue to rest and stated that Muthuka had ‘serious disciplinary issues to resolve’.Too sensitive
“The disciplinary issues arose during the National Championships in Nairobi and it shall take two months to go through it,” said Okeyo.
He declined to give more details, adding that some of the issues involved are too sensitive to discuss in public.
“When a matter like this is still being heard at official level, you don’t just talk about them in public. It may jeopardise the case,” said Okeyo.
Dismissing circulating rumours to the effect that Muthuka traded her slot with a Government official, the Okeyo stated.
“We paid her only her local allowances which were due to her. And we withdrew her from the team because it was going to complicate her case further.”
Last month, Muthuka broke Ruth Waithera’s 24 year national women’s 400m of 51.56 after running 51.53 at the national championships in a performance that saw her as the only female one-lap runner to qualify for the Olympics. A week later, she lowered the mark further to 50.82.