Kenyan runner gets four-year ban for sending doppelgänger to take drug test

The former indoor 600m world record holder, Michael Saruni of Kenya, was handed a four-year ban on Feb. 1, by the Anti-Doping Association of Kenya (ADAK) for sending a friend to impersonate him during a drug test at the 2022 Kenyan Trials for the 2022 World Championships.

According to the ADAK report, Saruni was found guilty of “evading sample collection, or without compelling justification, refusing, and running away.” In June 2022, the ADAK Doping Control Officer (DCO) notified Saruni that he was to undergo doping control after competing in the 800m final at the Kenyan trials, and was required to provide blood and urine samples. “It was further alleged that the athlete adamantly evaded, refused, and failed to give a sample or submit to sample collection and by collusion or trickery escaped or left the venue.”

The ban is for Evading, Refusing or Failing to Submit to Sample Collection. There seems to have been an attempted “toilet swicheroo” at the 2022 World Championships trials.

— Emily Evans (@RunEmilyERun) February 1, 2024

The ADAK panel added that Saruni asked a lookalike to impersonate him and provide a sample on his behalf. According to the report, Saruni had locked himself in a toilet stall. Then the DCO allegedly watched someone moving to Saruni’s stall. When approached to identify, he ran for it and allegedly jumped over a perimeter wall at the venue. Saruni claimed he had never been summoned by testers at the Kenyan trials. He is banned until Aug. 30, 2027.

Saruni was the former world record holder for 600m indoors, with a personal best of 1:14.79. He is also the Kenyan national record holder for 800m indoors, running 1:43.98 at the 2019 Millrose Games.

South Africa’s fastest sprinter receives six-year doping ban

Although we are only two months into 2024, Saruni’s suspension could be an early candidate for the craziest doping ban of the year. I wonder if he and his doppelgänger are still friends, or if he got a refund for his services, since the lookalike didn’t pull it off.

There are currently 75 Kenyan athletes on the AIU’s Global List of Ineligible Persons. The Kenyan government is in the second year of its $25 million, five-year campaign to test more athletes and eliminate doping in athletics. The AIU is working with the Kenyan government, Athletics Kenya and ADAK to combat the issue.