So this week there has been a fascinating case going on in Korea as told by Japan Running News Brett Larner:
http://japanrunningnews.blogspot.com/2016/04/special-session-to-decide-tomorrow.html
A special hearing of the South Korean Olympic Committee was held to see if 2:05 marathoner Wilson Loyanae Erupe of Kenya, who was banned for EPO use, should be put on the fast-track for citizenship so he could represent Korea in theOlympics.
Erupe desperately wanted to run for Korea and even has adopted a second name of Joo Han Oh, meaning "I will run for Korea."
The Koreans were tempted to give him fast-track citizenship but were concerned by the EPO bust. Erupe explained to them that he was given EPO by doctors when he got malaria and provided proof backing up that claim as shown here:
B Larner wrote:
Erupe claimed that, "The positive result was due to medicine I took for malaria, but Athletics Kenya did not accept this and suspended me for two years."
Following the postponement of the recommendation, the Korean Amateur Athletic Federation (KAAF) applied to the KSC for the special recommendation session after gathering further documentation. The documentation includes records indicating Erupe's admission to a local hospital in Kenya and certification of verification of these records by the Korean General Hospital. A KAAF spokesperson commented, "In consultation with domestic malaria experts we have confirmed that prescriptions for the drug in question were unavoidable at the time."
So doctors and scientists, is this true? Might someone be given EPO for malaria?
I'd love to know the answer to this question. If not, how do you explain the proof he provided?
In the end, he didn't get the citizenship as an article in the Korean press today said the following:
http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2016/04/07/2016040701678.html
The article says:
"Erupe explained that he took the drug to treat malaria and submitted doctor's notes and medical history, but the committee did not accept them and rejected Erupe's plea, saying he should have notified it in advance if he was to take the drug for medical reasons."