- Kenyan middle-distance runner receives four-year ban
- He locked himself in a bathroom when they asked him to give a blood and urine sample.
- He also tried to escape later by trying to jump over a barred wall.
A Kenyan middle-distance runner has received a four-year ban from all competitions after attempting to evade anti-doping authorities by sending a stuntman to give blood and urine samples on his behalf.
Michael Saruni, 28, was asked to provide a sample at national testing for the 2022 World Championships but tried a series of “tricks” to avoid it, according to a Kenyan anti-doping authority (ADAK).
The official verdict in his case states that Saruni “firmly, evaded, refused and failed to give a sample or submit to sample collection and, through connivance or deception, escaped or left the scene.”
Saruni is alleged to have entered a bathroom after his run with another man before changing his clothes and sending him for a test.
However, his elaborate attempt to get out of the test did not fool the ADAK official, as they quickly realized that they were not dealing with Saruni.
Michael Saruni (forward) has been banned for four years after attempting to evade anti-doping authorities.
Saruni (left), who competed in the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, sent a stunt double to give him a blood and urine sample while he locked himself in a bathroom.
In a witness statement provided by the official, they said: “I noticed that the person did not look like an athlete who had just finished a race.”
Investigators later discovered Saruni in the bathroom stall, but instead of turning himself in, he attempted to escape by jumping over a barred wall.
At a subsequent hearing, Saruni stated that he was “bewildered” by the charges against him, insisting that he had never evaded a sample collection and that no official had told him that he should undergo a doping test that day.
Now he has been punished for his fraudulent attempt: the ADAK has imposed a ban on him that will not allow him to compete until August 2027, when he will turn 32 years old.
Saruni is a former world indoor 600 meter record holder after running the distance in 1:14.79 in January 2018 while representing the University of Texas at El Paso.
He also competed in the 800 meters at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021, but failed to make it past the semifinals.
Kenya avoided a drug ban in 2022 despite having 55 athletes serving suspensions at the time.
There were growing fears that the East African nation could be blacklisted Russia-style by World Athletics, with Lord Coe admitting they faced a “long journey” to restore confidence in their anti-doping policies.
They have already had almost 100 track and field athletes banned in the past five years, as they continue to struggle to control their doping problems with the Paris Olympics less than six months away.