FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Statement from Edna Kiplagat
Two-Time IAAF World Marathon Champion
January 27, 2016
During the week of January 10th, a newspaper report in Kenya fabricated
comments from meregarding the ongoing issues of doping in athletics and the
process by which prize money and other financial incentives should be paid
to deserving athletes. This article has since been circulated through
various media outlets around the world. I would like to take an opportunity
to directly state my opinion on this topic, including the two cases in
which I have been most directly affected: the 2010/2011 and 2013/2014
Abbott World Marathon Majors(AbbottWMM) overall titles and the two awards
totaling USD 1,000,000.
It has been my privilege over the past five years to focus my career on the
marathon, and to have achieved some success in this event. With my husband
and coach, Gilbert Koech, we have accomplished this not only through
year-in, year-out hard work that all athletes undertake, but also by being
provided the settings of the world’s top marathon races, in particular
those of the Olympic Games, World Championships,and the AbbottWMM.
My past 13 consecutive marathons since November, 2010, have all been a part
of this group: five times in London, four times in New York, three times at
the IAAF World Championships, and one Olympic Games. Tokyo next month will
be my 14th competition in a marathon that is part of the AbbottWMM scoring
system.
I have passionately supported the events of the AbbottWMM. These events are
the best in the world, in every sense. They feature the strongest athletes,
the best race management and sponsorship teams, and the best financial
incentives for us as athletes.
The frustration I feel -- which is shared by all other athletes have who
have been deprived of our titles, medals, and financial earnings by
athletes and officials who cheated the system -- has been well-documented
in the media. Such people are not only cheats, but they are thieves,
stealing earnings from athletes, appearance fees from race organizers, and
bonuses from sponsors.
I applaud the actions taken by the Abbott World Marathon Majors in
promoting clean competition and helping to move our sport forward. The
AbbottWMM took the strongest possible stand in opposing the WADA and IAAF
reinstatement of Liliya Shobukhova to our sport last summer shortly before
the IAAF World Championships in Beijing. In this, the AbbottWMM
was defending not only me, but also 2009/2010 champion Irina Mikitenko, and
almost 30 other women. As a group, we lost over $1.3 million in prize money
to the cheating of Ms. Shobukhova.
The IAAF is also seeking a resolution to the case of Rita Jeptoo, whose
case still remains with the Court of Arbitration for Sport nearly 15 months
after she was caught for the use of performance enhancing drugs. AbbottWMM
legal counsel Nick Bitel and general manager Tim Hadzima have kept me
updated through my manager on a near-monthly basis on the progress of the
CAS case, as well as spoken out on behalf of all athletes in pushing for a
clean-up at our sport’s highest levels.
From the onset, the AbbottWMM has pushed for the cleanest standards in our
sport, everything from pre-race blood tests, to lifetime bans from
AbbottWMM events for any athletes caught for PED use. They have even set up
the largest independently-funded drug testing pool in athletics, enforce
mandatory testing of invited athletes, and have created a deferred payment
system that will prevent cheats from benefiting financially.
I believe that all clean athletes join me in applauding these steps by the
AbbottWMM. I look forward to attempting to qualify for this summer’s
Olympic Games in Rio and to competing in several more AbbottWMM races. I am
excited by our future partnership.
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