Guilty until proven innocent? Doping glares its ugly face in Ruth Chepngetich's moment of glory
Reading Time: 2min | Mon. 14.10.24. | 13:14
Kenya continues to grapple with doping, the menace putting many innocent runners under scrutiny
Five years to the day since Brigid Kosgei smashed the women’s marathon record with 2:14:04 in Chicago, Ruth Chepngetich plucked a leaf off her compatriots book to set a new mark on Sunday 13 October on the same course.
Kosgei’s achievement that bettered Paula Radcliffe’s 16-year-old mark of 2:15:25 from 2003 by one minute and 21 seconds did not go unquestioned with many arguing her performance was aided by the Nike Zoom VaporFly Next%, shoes she wore for the race.
Kosgei’s mark survived until 2023 when, at last year’s Berlin Marathon, Tigist Assefa decimated it, becoming the first woman in history to run a sub-2:12 marathon with 2:11:53.
As the self-coached Chepng’etich took to the streets on Sunday, she had made her intentions known early with an astonishing 15:00 minutes in the opening 5km with Ethiopian Sutume Kebede just two seconds behind.
She held on to her pace, only slowing down slightly in the final 7km to clock 2:09:56, decimating the world record by close to two minutes, becoming the first woman to dip under 2:10.
Doping questions are always going to come especially with incredible performance and crazy times.
— Lynne Wachira (@WachiraLynne) October 13, 2024
Ruth just seemed shocked that the question actually came so directly.
Kenya 🇰🇪 should absolutely clean up its house, otherwise athletes will keep facing questions & doubts https://t.co/X2u4WfTjuA
She finished seven minutes and 36 seconds ahead of Kebede who came home in 2:17:32.
Just like in Kosgei’s case, Chepng’etich's performance hasn't been spared with opinions online divided as to whether her feat has been achieved clean.
The progression of athleticism (in terms of athletic feats) over the past 15 years is stunning. 9 of the last 10 women’s records have been broken in the last 5 years. https://t.co/hiTGvGXfPM pic.twitter.com/kX1AQrUPLc
— George Basile (@BallAndPolicy) October 13, 2024
With Kenya on the doping A list, it did not take long for Chepngetich to face the 'guilty until proven innocent' verdict, especially after the question was popped right after her achievement in the post-race press conference.
Kenyans have continued to call on the government to crack the whip on dopers as the country struggles to maintain a positive image.
