Click on this link and you will read (in French) that Benoit Z. was absolutely of any wrongdoing with regard to illegal products, as was Hassan Al Idrissi, a famous coach and recruiter in the Marseille region.
http://www.sport.fr/athletisme/ath/Perquisition-au-domicile-de-Benoit-Z-46986.shtm
We always suspected that Benoit was innocent. He is too honest a guy to resort to cheating. This was ingrained during his childhood, when he grew up in a small town on the Belgian-French border - a coal mining region with tough, no nonsense people who inhabit that region, many of them descendents of Poles who came to the region to work in the mines, as was the family of Benoit....note the name. He comes from a tough, working class background. His toilet was an outhouse until his late teens.
The fact that Benoit trained in Albuquerque and rented a flat from Eddy Hellebuyck does not implicate him either. And in fact, Benoit and Eddy had a bit of a 'falling out' when Benoit elected to be trained by Dr Rosa and Pat Porter - two honorable gentleman well respected in the running world. Dr Rosa considered Benoit to be one of the most talented white men he had ever trained - a real diesel runner. But Benoit was too much of a maverick to stay for any length of time with any single coach, and floated around with a lot of different people, and then decided that he would do best by being self coached.
Even during the FFA training camps, Benoit did his own thing, and because of the antipathy between him and Driss El Himer (another French 2:06 guy) - the two guys had to train seperately and eat at different tables, lest the fireworks fly.
Benoit was chill with the money and bennies, but Driss, according to reports, always wanted more, and did not take kindly to Benoit getting the lion's share of the limelight, following the magnificent performance in the Paris Marathon, when Benoit tied the record of the Portuguese -Pinto - another man suspected of drug use, but cleared. Pinto ran well on litres of red wine, and has branched out into that sector, post running career.
Benoit made a comeback of sorts last automn, running the Marseille marathon and winning in 2:25 - not a good time, but it was a comeback race, and it was run in very inclement conditions.
Benoit has converted to the Islam religion (Mashallah!Al Hamdullilah!) and Islam is a religion of peace and honesty where cheating is abhorred and condemned by the great one -Allah. This is not proof, but his religion permanently keeps him in check for any errant behaviour. It is a religion of permanent self control and discipline, and ideally suited to our vocation.
It is easy to create rumours about people, but Benoit was never worried by the justice system, and nothing was ever found in his flat, on the rue de Notre Dame, in Marseille, a place where Benoit has invited visitors on numerous occasions. He is a good man, salt of the earth.
Ghost in Saudi,
www.kfupm.edu.sa
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