London Marathon chiefs turn on athletics bosses over anti-doping
London Marathon bosses have criticised the IAAF and admitted to fears over the effectiveness of anti-doping measures implemented by athletics’ world governing body.
It follows allegations yesterday that the men’s and women’s races were won by seven athletes over a recent 12-year period who exhibited suspicious blood values.
“We believe there are people in our sport who are cheating and everyone has a part to play to protect those who are not,” said London Marathon chief executive Nick Bitel. “We continue to be at the forefront of anti-doping measures for marathon runners as we are determined to make marathon running a safe haven from doping but we cannot do it all on our own and rely heavily on the IAAF.
“We are therefore very concerned by the allegations made in The Sunday Times today and we will be discussing the implications of the allegations with the IAAF.”
Race organisers are pursuing 201 winner Russian Liliya Shobukhova for £500,00 in prize money after she had all post-2009 results annulled following a doping conviction.