Given Kenya’s ongoing doping problems, the world was the recording is too good to be true. Matt Majendi looks at the marathon star’s long runs to show he’s clean.
When the clock stopped at 1:59.30 at the Sebastian Soi Mall, the doubters weren’t as cynical about his superhuman achievements as they might normally be.
The Kenyan may hail from a nation whose athletes have been guilty of more than a third of all positive doping tests since the Athletics Integrity Unit (AIU) was established a decade ago, but despite that and the extraordinary effort required to dip below the sacred two hours, there was a belief that it could be achieved without resorting to foul play. Already last year, Soi knew he was making an encroachment on the world record, a feat he could have achieved last September in Berlin had the climate not been so surprisingly warm for an autumn road race.
Knowing the skepticism that might greet such a performance, he decided to undergo as many tests as possible, so he contacted the AIU through his agent, Eric Lillot, to ask if they might be interested in creating a testing program specifically for him, effectively making him the most tested athlete on the planet. The problem is that such trials are expensive, so Sawe’s sponsor, Adidas, stepped in to meet the £50,000 required.
“We believe sport should be fair and we support the efforts of the AIU and other testing bodies to ensure a level playing field through enhanced testing.
Sau then took 25 tests in the two months leading up to Berlin, effectively two or three times a week, twice on one particular day, both urine and blood, and not just the standard anti-doping tests. Each sample can be tested for EPO, testosterone, human growth hormone and much more.
There are no anomalies, and the testing wasn’t just a one-off. Testing has been less intense this year, but has been spread over the season, equating to 25 more tests, almost every fortnight, but Soi did not know in advance when such a test might take place.
This makes this athlete a follow-up not only as a superhuman runner, but also as a strong anti-doping advocate at a time when the validity of marathon runners, and Kenyan marathon runners in particular, remains in focus.
AIU Executive Director Brett Clothier says “trailblazer” is an apt word to sum up Sawe’s undertaking. He says: “I’m told this was his initiative, he actively wanted to put himself under a lot of scrutiny. But we’re not in the credibility business, we’re in the verification business, and he’s subject to the highest level of scrutiny of any athlete in the world.”
What Clothier is effectively saying is that while he can’t definitively confirm that the world record holder is a clean athlete, Soi is providing more evidence than any athlete ever has in trying to send the message that the fastest times ever run can be done without doping.
The AIU was clear that Sawe and his team could not have known during this relationship what the testing might entail.
“By agreeing to do this, it’s very clear that the testing program is being done completely independently, without notification, without knowing when we’re coming to test him and what we’re testing him for,” adds Clothier. “There will always be cynics about these things, and we are the biggest cynics of all, but we also know exactly what is involved in the process. This is a very, very high level of assurance in this program based on our knowledge of anti-doping.”
Clothier describes Sawe’s testing regime as the “ultimate artillery” of anti-doping, with “the maximum menu of tests and samples taken in every test.” And testing won’t just end in 2026, his samples will be kept for 10 years, with the understanding that officials may revisit those samples as testing for some banned substances improves in the intervening years.
AIU has long had a history of working with others to catch scams. Back in 2019 they launched their anti-doping program where all the major road races came together with further support from shoe brands to pool their resources.
That partnership raised $3 million for a special anti-doping fund. It created a vastly larger testing pool of the top 150 men and women in the marathon, and surprisingly, positive tests increased as a result. Clothier is not going to assume that the battle against dopers is already won.
Since 300 athletes are tested and funding is not unlimited, it is still difficult to catch athletes microdosing, for example, out of competition. Sometimes such microdosing means that the substances will remain in the human body for only 24 hours at most, giving a very small window to successfully detect doping.
“When the systems are good, we can catch high-level dopers, but we’d like to do it faster,” Clothier admits. “And we can take athletes off the board to protect the confidence of winning major races.”
Prior to broader partnerships with marathons and shoe brands, 75 percent of podium finishers in leading marathons had not even been tested in the 12 months leading up to that race. There has been a noticeable change since then. However, it’s what the Australian still calls a “work in progress”.
He adds: “I keep telling people that we have a lot more positive cases, but a lot less doping.
“It’s just the reality, before the establishment of AIU, the IAAF registered one case against a Kenyan athlete, now we have 30 cases a year against Kenyans on our side.
“Anyone who’s on the ground there can really see the changes. It used to be totally wild west. There is still a lot of doping, but it is much better than before, and the most important thing is that clean athletes have the opportunity to compete and win races.”
Clothier doesn’t intend to gossip about AIU and acknowledges that there is still much work to be done, improving partnerships, increasing funding, and more in this ongoing battle.
“I can’t guarantee anything,” he concludes about Sau and other elite marathoners. “That’s not our line of work. Obviously, there has been enough surprise in the history of anti-doping with untraceable substances that I never make extraordinary statements. But, based on our extensive experience running marathons and catching dopers, this is a really high-guarantee program. We can leave that to the judgment of others.”
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