Posted: November 8, 2005

Drugs in Sport: Drug Scandal Grips South African Athletics

From David Monti

© 2005 Race Results Weekly, all rights reserved RaceResultsWeekly.com

By Riel Hauman

South African athletics reeled under another shock yesterday when it was announced that a further three runners of the Harmony Athletics Club in Pretoria have tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone. It is the same substance found in the sample of their clubmate Azwindini Lukhwareni in September.

The three athletes, who were tested out of competition, are Edward Kgosimang, Merriam Mooki and Maxwell Zungu.

Kgosimang won the Cape Town Marathon on September 11 on his debut in 2:16:06 – the fastest time in South Africa (on a standard course) for the year. He has been asked to appear at a hearing today (Wednesday), directly after Lukhwareni’s hearing.

Hearings for the other two runners will be held on November 19. Mooki won the Capital Classic Half Marathon in 86:36 on October 15, while Zungu finished fourth in the Linz Marathon in Austria in April, running 2:21:21.

In a statement the manager of the Harmony club, former Comrades winner Nick Bester, said that Harmony is still investigating the possibility that a syndicate provides the athletes with illegal substances. “We have now decided to put our foot down. The investigation is making progress, but the matter is too sensitive for me to comment further,” Bester said.

Lukhwareni has attributed the positive test to “professional jealousy,” alleging that other athletes who “dislike” her put someone up to give her the drug under the pretext that it was medicine for her injured knee.

Athletics South Africa said in a statement that the three athletes tested positive for 19-Norandrosterone, which are metabolites and/or precursors of the anabolic agent Nandrolone. They have been suspended from all competition pending the outcome of their hearings.